ST. LOUIS — Aaron Piggee lost four family members Friday night in a car crash on Delmar Boulevard and Pendleton Avenue.
"It don't make no sense. How can a whole family be gone just like that and the kids just left behind. So, they're expecting me to bury my mother, my uncle, my other uncle and my own sister," Piggee said.
Jennifer Polk lives on the street and heard when a stolen Jeep Cherokee crashed into a Kia minivan.
"I ran down there and I seen the kids yelling, crying, so I went around the side to tell the girl to calm down and it'd be okay," Polk said.
St. Louis Police say three teenagers in the stolen Jeep crashed into the mini-van carrying 7 of Piggee's family members who had just finished grocery shopping.
"As of right now, we don't have any information that the officers were pursuing the vehicle but they did try to deploy spike strips to stop the vehicle," Public Safety Director Dan Isom said.
Police ran the Jeep's license plate and found it was stolen from Herculaneum and wanted for felonies from multiple jurisdictions. Isom says police pursuits are a tough call.
"In most cases, we try to and other police departments try to restrict it to more serious incidents. That doesn't negate the fact that we try to pull people over who are wanted for crimes and even when attempting to do that, cars may flee just for the simple fact of trying to pull them over," Isom said.
Police found guns and suspected narcotics in the Jeep and took the two teenage passengers into custody. The driver ran off and is still on the loose.
"You are putting people's lives in jeopardy. A whole family just lost they life. It needs to stop for real," Polk said.
"I'm trying to keep it strong. I really am, but I'm definitely crying on the inside. But this hurts, so bad, so deeply," Piggee said.
Police haven't released their names because the suspects are minors.
Isom said they are pursuing charges.