13-year-old on ankle monitor accused of Baltimore carjackings had 18 prior arrests, police say
A series of carjackings in East Baltimore led to the arrest of a 13-year-old boy who police said had 18 prior felony arrests for crimes in the city.
Authorities were able to connect him to the crimes through his GPS-enabled ankle monitor.
Baltimore community reacts
Rampage Reeses works near the 2300 block of Guilford Avenue, which is one of the locations where Baltimore police said the 13-year-old carried out a violent crime spree in July.
"How is that even possible for a 13-year-old to be arrested that many times?" Reeses asked. "The idea of a child being arrested that many times at such a young age, who is really failing here? There has to be a problem."
"Maybe he needs some therapy," she continued. "They should try a lot more things, because clearly being arrested has not done anything."
At 6:44 a.m. on July 26, police said the teen and another juvenile got out of a stolen Hyundai, chased down a victim, forced themselves into her car and beat her.
The woman was able to put her car in reverse and the teens fled.
The victim told WJZ she drives for a living, but did not want to say any more about the violent crime and declined an interview.
Another carjacking, armed robbery
The next day, at 5:31 a.m. in the 100 block of East Lanvale Street, not far from Penn Station, police said three suspects pulled in front of a victim's car, got out, demanded her keys and wallet and fled in her vehicle.
A half hour before, and just a three-minute drive away in the 200 block of East 24th Street, police said the same teens were behind the armed robbery of another woman.
They found her stolen car in the 500 block of North Highland, just off Pulaski Highway the next day.
18 past arrests
Police said they tracked down the 13-year-old suspect through his ankle monitor and discovered he had 18 previous arrests in the city.
Officers could not say whether he was being charged as an adult, and referred WJZ Investigates to the Department of Juvenile Services (DJS), where officials said they could not comment on the case.
"They go to court and nothing happens to them. They spend a little time and come back out here and do the same thing over and over," said Jerome, who declined to give his last name. His mother lives near one of the carjacking scenes.
Police told WJZ that the 13-year-old was taken to juvenile booking, where he was charged with carjacking, robbery, assault, and several other offenses.
Police are still working to identify the other suspects involved.
DJS on home monitoring
The new DJS Secretary has promised to get a handle on the issue of repeat young offenders.
Some seem undeterred by home monitoring.
"Electronic monitoring is a really important tool in the continuum to support young people, but we have to make sure we're using it appropriately and in the right circumstances," acting DJS Secretary Betsy Fox Tolentino said in June. "So, that means we're doing a really good evaluation, making recommendations for monitoring when it fits the situation. And as with any tool, it's only as good as your operations around it, so we want to make sure our operations and our frontline staff who are showing up every day for our young people have what they need to ensure they are able to support young people when they are in the community on monitoring."
Baltimore struggles with youth crime
Youth crime, particularly carjackings and theft, has been a growing concern among Baltimore residents.
In one case, a pastor from Connecticut was carjacked at gunpoint by a masked 16-year-old in Upper Fells Point. The incident occurred in the 1700 block of East Pratt Street near Broadway. His vehicle was recovered 10 days later.
A 14-year-old on GPS monitoring went on a crime spree on June 22 in Northeast Baltimore, according to police. It included a carjacking and the armed robbery of a delivery driver for a grocery store.
A carjacking was caught on camera in Hampden on July 1. Three of the five juveniles involved wore ankle monitors, police said.
On July 2, a 14-year-old was among four juveniles involved in a carjacking in Reservoir Hill. Police said three of the four suspects had prior records.
On July 5, a 10-year-old was among four juveniles who allegedly fled in a stolen vehicle after assaulting a man at a bus stop on Northern Parkway.