Sheriff’s deputy, dog killed in police chase

? Two teenagers were charged with murder Thursday after they led police on a high-speed chase on a wet road and hit a parked sheriff’s cruiser, killing the deputy and K-9 dog inside, authorities said.

The suspects, a 17-year-old driver and a 16-year-old passenger whose names were not released, were not seriously injured.

The driver left an Exxon station in Baxter without paying for gas at 12:35 a.m., authorities said. Police followed the car at least 10 miles west on U.S. 119 into a neighboring county.

Two state troopers attempted to stop the speeding driver on the winding highway through the mostly rural, rugged Appalachian coal-mining region in southeastern Kentucky, state police said.

The teen’s car veered over the center line of the two-lane road and rammed into a cruiser parked on the shoulder waiting to join the pursuit, killing Bell County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Pursifull, 31, and his K-9 dog King. Police estimated the car was going well over 100 mph.