1997 Buick Skylark started out sounding like popcorn

Hi,
I just bought this car from a auction so I have no history or even a owner's manual to look at. I figured the popping noise was a small hole in the exhaust cause at first it only made the sound when accelerating and not when idling or at a set speed. Well all of a sudden out of the blue it started rattling and popping really loud and at all the stop lights too also started hesitating a little so it felt like the car was gonna fall apart but I didn't have cash for a tow so I did my best to get as close to home as possible but it got even louder then stalled out on me. I managed to get it off to the side of the road and called a friend for a ride, but now we got it home and still can't get it even started, the check engine light and theft light are on now too. I tried the turn the key on and wait ten minutes to see if I could reset the theft part but no luck. Do you have any ideas as to what the noises may be and any other options for bypassing the theft light issue?
Thanks