Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed a directive on Oct. 13 ordering the state Department of Juvenile Services to start a youth car-theft pilot in Baltimore City and Montgomery County. It came 13 days after a Sept. 30 crash in west Baltimore in which, Baltimore police said, a 12-year-old driving a stolen car hit a motorcyclist, Barry Wright, 69, of Baltimore County, who was later pronounced dead.
Police said the crash happened around 1:40 p.m. in the 1800 block of North Dukeland Street, and that the boy and a 15-year-old girl ran from the car afterward, according to Fox45. Police arrested the girl and charged her with motor vehicle theft. For the boy, the department filed a Child in Need of Supervision referral and met with Juvenile Services.
Why the 12-year-old wasn’t charged
Maryland’s juvenile statute, Section 3-8A-03(f) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, says: “A child under the age of 13 years may not be charged with a crime.” The same section lets juvenile court take cases against children as young as 10 only for certain acts, such as a crime of violence as defined in state law. Motor vehicle theft does not appear in the section’s text.
A Child in Need of Supervision complaint is not a charge. The Baltimore Banner reported that Juvenile Services intake officers can decline the complaint, refer the boy to services, require a precourt supervision agreement, or file a petition in juvenile court. Public reports have not said which option the department chose. Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said he was legally unable to charge the children and blamed the 2022 Juvenile Justice Reform Act, according to The Daily Record. The Auto Wire covered a separate Maryland case under the newer youth-charging law in an Oct. 9 report.
What the directive orders, and what it leaves out
The directive, addressed to Secretary Betsy Fox Tolentino, orders DJS to start a rapid-response pilot “immediately” in Baltimore City and Montgomery County, which it says have the largest increases over 2025, using the department’s existing “Youth of Concern” interagency meetings. It also tells DJS to build a pathway for young children involved in stolen-vehicle incidents who cannot be formally charged, and to explore adapting the Ramsey County, Minn., youth auto theft intervention project, which pairs a dedicated law enforcement team with community navigators. No deadline is attached to that last piece.
The only date is Dec. 1, when DJS owes an initial status report to Deputy Chief of Staff Travis Nelson. The document does not mention funding or a budget, and it stays in force “until further notice.” Fox45 reported that it changes neither juvenile charging law nor the rules for detaining a child, and does not say whether families would be required to take part. The practical effect is to make an agency that already meets about these children meet about them sooner. It adds no authority over a child under 13 and no new money.
Reaction and the Montgomery County numbers
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott supported the steps and called for a broader overhaul of the system, WJLA reported. Jason Johnson of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund said he was glad Moore acted but questioned what DJS can accomplish, and called the 2022 reforms a mistake, according to WJLA.
The directive gives no theft counts. Montgomery County’s government said car thefts there rose about 20% over the past year and that police told the County Council close to 100 juveniles had been arrested on auto theft charges in 2026, some as young as 11. The Auto Wire reported in September on four boys who fled two stolen cars in Gaithersburg.
What happens next
Dec. 1 brings the first look at whether the pilot has a start date, a length or participation rules. Until then, a stolen-car case involving a child under 13 in Baltimore or Montgomery County is handled as the Dukeland Street case was: a referral to Juvenile Services, no criminal charge.
Barry Wright was 69. The boy at the wheel was 12, which under Maryland law means no charge. If you were reading DJS’s Dec. 1 report, what would you need to see in it before you called this a response?