Police officers were involved in a high-speed chase with a 16-year-old boy through the streets of Kavala in northeastern Greece early yesterday and finally caught the suspect after he attempted to swim to safety.

The chase began when a car failed to stop at 1 a.m. for a routine check in the city center. Patrol cars pursued the car, which had been stolen, as its driver ran through several red lights and drove the wrong way down one-way streets.

The suspect then ditched his car at the waterfront, plunged into the sea and tried to swim away from the officers. The police, however, managed to find a boat and rowed out to sea to prevent the suspect’s escape.

The teenager had apparently escaped from an institute for young offenders in Volos, where he was serving time for theft.