Two teenagers were charged with murder Thursday after they led police on a high-speed chase in southeastern Kentucky and hit a parked sheriff's cruiser, killing the deputy and K-9 dog inside, authorities said.
The driver drove away from an Exxon gas station in Baxter without paying at 12:35 a.m., authorities said. Police followed the car at least 10 miles west on U.S. 119 into a neighboring county.
State police said two state troopers attempted to stop the speeding driver.
Car rammed into cruiser
The teen's car veered over the center line and rammed into a cruiser parked on the shoulder waiting to join the pursuit, killing Ball County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Pursifull, 31, and his K-9 dog King, state police said.
The 17-year-old driver, from Delaware, and a 16-year-old passenger from Pennsylvania were slightly injured.
Both were released from a hospital and jailed in the Adair County Juvenile Detention Center on charges of murder and assault on a service animal.