A stolen vehicle was ditched in the parking lot of Valley View Elementary School, 6515 Route 120 in McHenry, Friday morning following an attempted burglary to vehicle in McHenry. | Photo: Google Street View

Police say suspects ditched their stolen getaway vehicle at an elementary school in McHenry after attempting to steal a vehicle and then crashing while fleeing Friday morning.

An alert was sent out around 6:05 a.m. Friday regarding two Kias driving recklessly in the area of Route 47 and Charles Road near Woodstock.

The speeding vehicles were wanted in connection with an attempted burglary to motor vehicle that occurred a short time earlier in McHenry.

McHenry Deputy Chief of Police Thomas Walsh said the suspects had attempted to steal a vehicle in the 3300 block of Waukegan Road in McHenry.

The suspects were thwarted by a witness and fled the scene.

The offenders later struck another vehicle in the jurisdiction of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, Walsh said.

The suspect vehicle was finally located unoccupied in the parking lot of Valley View Elementary School, 6515 Route 120 in McHenry.

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Walsh said the abandoned car used by the suspects was later learned to have been stolen out of Gurnee.

A search of the area was conducted but the suspects were not located.

Walsh said it is believed the suspects were picked up in a second vehicle, which was also stolen out of Lake County.

A witness said they saw several police officers at Valley View School near a parked car that had its doors open. The school was not in session on Friday.

Crime scene tape was set up around the area of the car, the witness added.

The incident remains under investigation by the McHenry Police Department.