Cops reel in burglary crew - Two-hour hunt yields six arrests

Six young teens and an adult bailed out of a stolen van and ran in all directions early today after a two-hour game of hide and seek with police across the city.

All but one got caught as police rounded the occupants up from backyards and bushes.

The melee –  reminiscent of a packed clown car at a circus – occurred after the van was stopped at 2:30 a.m. driving the wrong way north on Wentworth Street South.

The 20-year-old Hamilton man driving the van has been charged with dangerous driving, flight from police, theft and possession of stolen property under $5,000, possession of burglary tools and two counts of breach of probation.

Police said the van had been reported stolen early Wednesday morning in the Barlake Avenue area.

It appeared on the streets in the east end early Thursday when it fled from a police spot check for impaired drivers set up at the Queenston Road traffic circle and disappeared. Police chose not to chase it.

The van turned up again about an hour later on the Mountain when a robbery squad officer on another assignment spotted it and followed, losing it in the Mountain Brow area.