California Highway Patrol officers took a car theft and hit-and-run suspect into custody after a teenage CHP Explorer spotted the fleeing suspect near Castaic.

The suspect, who was allegedly driving a stolen Scion, collided with another vehicle on the southbound I-5 near Templin Highway around 6 p.m. Thursday, said CHP Officer Josh Greengard, a spokesperson for the CHP Newhall office.

“After the collision, the suspect fled on foot,” Greengard said.

But in a stroke of bad luck for the suspect, a responding officer had a passenger while investigating the crash: a CHP Explorer, Greengard said.

The CHP Explorers after-school program is for 14 to 16-year-olds, giving the teenagers an opportunity to go on ride-alongs to learn and experience what the CHP does.

During Thursday’s ride-along, the Explorer was scanning the hillside with a pair of binoculars while the officer searched.

The Explorer then spotted the suspect hiding in the hills neighboring the freeway, and alerted the officer.

The suspect was arrested and booked at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

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