An afternoon "joyride" in a stolen van on Friday, April 1, for a group of Providence teenagers ended on Wamsutta Avenue in Barrington.

Police were tipped off to the situation at about 7 p.m., when a King Phillip Avenue resident called the station to report a teenager urinating in the roadway. An officer responded to the scene searching for the white van the teen had been spotted getting out of, and later located the vehicle on Wamsutta.

The officer ran a check of the registration, which revealed that the van had been reported stolen out of Providence. 

The Barrington officer began to approach the vehicle, when the doors swung open and "between 8 and 9 juveniles" wearing shorts, t-shirts, sneakers and carrying backpacks, darted from the van and sprinted into the surrounding yards. They leaped fences and ran through hedges to escape the police.

Three Barrington officers on scene were able to track down two of the teens — both boys were 16-year-old Providence residents. The boys told police they had taken the van, had been smoking pot inside the vehicle, and did not know the identity of some of the other passengers. The boys who were caught said they attended Central High School in Providence.

One of the boys reportedly gave police fake names when the officer asked for his identification. 

Police charged the two teenagers with possession of a stolen vehicle; one of the boys was also charged with obstructing an officer in the execution of duty and conspiracy. 

The vehicle was later returned to its rightful owner.