Teen who was ‘prepared to take a life’ to steal car kills Army vet while driving stolen vehicle with 3 popped tires: Police

A 17-year-old from Missouri is accused of going on a multistate crime spree that included a high-speed pursuit with police that ended with him striking another car and killing a 23-year-old U.S. Army veteran who was traveling with her mother.

Anthony Giancola was taken into custody in Oklahoma and charged with one count of first-degree murder, endangering others while eluding police, causing great bodily injury while eluding police, larceny of an automobile, possession of a stolen vehicle, endangering others while eluding police, and pattern of criminal offenses, authorities announced.

According to a news release from the Rogers County, Oklahoma Sheriff’s Office, officers with the Vinita Police Department at about 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 20, 2024, were in pursuit of a juvenile suspect in a stolen white Subaru Forrester when they requested assistance from deputies. Police notified deputies that the suspect driving the vehicle was armed with a knife and was “possibly suicidal.”

Authorities lost track of the suspect as he crossed into Rogers County, so deputies “saturated the area” and eventually found the vehicle crashed in a ditch.

Shortly after locating the crashed vehicle, a call came into Rogers County 911 dispatch from an individual reporting that a juvenile “had just stolen his pickup truck,” and further advised that the stolen vehicle had a firearm inside.

Authorities began searching for the vehicle, locating it traveling “at a high rate of speed” on a two-lane road. In an attempt to stop the fleeing car, deputies deployed stop sticks, also known as spike strips, but said the suspect was able to avoid the tire deflation device.

The suspect continued speeding back toward U.S. Route 66 when the Oklahoma Highway Patrol again deployed stop sticks, this time puncturing three of the vehicle’s four tires.

Despite losing three tires, the suspect allegedly continued fleeing, speeding across the railroad tracks onto Route 66 where he “struck a vehicle on the passenger side.”

“The suspect vehicle rolled across the median to the east side of the road and the vehicle that was struck spun out into the median,” the sheriff’s office said. “Deputies took the suspect into custody and went to check on the citizens in the vehicle that was struck. The driver was air lifted to a Tulsa area hospital and the passenger, her daughter, was declared deceased at the scene.”

The passenger was later identified as Harrel.

“These people done nothing, you know, what I mean, when a car comes over a railroad track at a 100 miles per hour, there’s not a lot you can do to try and save your life or anyone around you,” Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton told Tulsa, Oklahoma CBS affiliate KOTV. “And again, the only word that applies here is tragedy.”

Authorities said that the stolen vehicle involved in the fatal accident was the third car stolen by Giancola in only 24 hours. Giancola also allegedly made statements that “he was prepared to take a life if needed to steal a car.”

Giancola is currently being held in the Craig County Juvenile Detention Center.

Harrel was a cheerleader at Rogers State University in Oklahoma. The school’s athletic department. posted the following statement on the RSU Hillcats Facebook page:

“The Rogers State Athletics family is deeply saddened to report the loss of Logan Harrel. A member of the Hillcat Cheer team, Logan tragically passed on Sunday. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends and teammates.”

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