A 17-year-old Missouri resident is suspected of going on a multistate crime spree that included a high-speed pursuit with police that concluded with him striking another car and killing a 23-year-old U.S. Army veteran traveling with her mother.
Anthony Giancola was arrested in Oklahoma and charged with one count of first-degree murder, endangering others while eluding police, causing great bodily harm while eluding police, larceny of an automobile, possession of a stolen vehicle, endangering others while eluding police, and a pattern of criminal offenses, according to authorities.
According to a news release from the Rogers County, Oklahoma Sheriff’s Office, Vinita Police Department officers were pursuing a juvenile suspect in a stolen white Subaru Forrester around 10:30 a.m. on October 20, 2024, when they requested deputies’ assistance. Police informed deputies that the person driving the vehicle was carrying a knife and was “possibly suicidal.”
Authorities lost track of the suspect when he moved into Rogers County, so deputies “saturated the area” until they discovered the truck overturned in a ditch.
Shortly after locating the smashed car, Rogers County 911 dispatch received a call from an individual stating that a juvenile “had just stolen his pickup truck,” and that the stolen vehicle included a handgun.
Authorities began looking for the vehicle, which was moving “at a high rate of speed” on a two-lane road. Deputies attempted to stop the fleeing car using stop sticks, popularly known as spike strips, but the suspect managed to escape the tire deflation device.
The suspect continued to accelerate back toward U.S. Route 66 when the Oklahoma Highway Patrol launched stop sticks, puncturing three of the vehicle’s four tires.
Despite losing three tires, the suspect allegedly fled, speeding across the railroad tracks to Route 66, where he “struck a vehicle on the passenger side.”
The passenger was later recognized as Harrel.
According to authorities, the stolen vehicle involved in the deadly accident was Giancola’s third car taken in the last 24 hours. Giancola also allegedly stated that he was “willing to take a life if necessary to steal a car.”
Giancola is now being incarcerated at the Craig County Juvenile Detention Center.
Harrel was a cheerleader for Rogers State University in Oklahoma. The school’s athletic department. made the following message on the RSU Hillcats’ Facebook page.