An injured passenger uses his hat to block the sun as he is pushed to an ambulance after a vehicle with three teens in it slammed into a Searls Avenue telephone pole Thursday. (Photo by John Hart)

Three teen-age boys were injured Thursday after they crashed into a Nevada City police car and wrapped their car around a utility pole while trying to evade officers, according to the California Highway Patrol.

A swarm of police and rescuers converged on Searls Avenue near Gold Run School. The boys - a 16-year-old driver and two passengers, ages 16 and 17 - went by ambulance to Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital with minor to moderate injuries.

The Nevada City officer involved in the crash, Ed Sommerhalder, wasn't injured, said CHP spokesman Troy Marks.

The crash occurred at about 10:50 a.m., the culmination of a sheriff's deputy's low-speed pursuit that started on Banner Mountain.

Undersheriff John Trauner said the deputy, who was patrolling an area hit by recent thefts, became suspicious of the teens' Mercury sedan because it didn't have license plates.

It turned out the driver had a suspended license, and the car's registration had expired, according to Marks.

At regular speeds, Trauner said, the deputy followed the teens to Gold Flat Road to make a traffic stop, but the driver ignored the deputy's lights and sirens.

Trauner said the teen driver sped away into Nevada City and east down Searls Avenue, but the deputy didn't follow because it's a populated area.

Sommerhalder was westbound on Searls when the crash occurred. After the crash, officers drew guns on the teens.

"We obviously felt they were fleeing for a reason. We made a felony approach on the vehicle," said Police Sgt. Lorin Gage.

Nevada City, 49er, Nevada County Consolidated and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection firefighters and Sierra Nevada Ambulance also responded.

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