12-Year-Old Carjackers Caught In D.C.

What is society coming to?

It’s a sad day when children are becoming hardened criminals, something we’re seeing more when it comes to car theft. Taking things a step further is a report from WTOP News about two 12-year-old boys who were arrested in Washington D.C. for allegedly carjacking victims and robbing different people.

See the pizza truck that was carjacked and crashed near the White House here.

According to police, the boys started their crime spree back on March 21 when one of the boys assaulted and tried to rob someone. While the boy wasn’t successful at taking anything from the victim, he was charged with assault and probably learned from that he would face few if any consequences.

In April the two boys started carjacking people left and right. They carjacked at least eight different vehicles in Southeast D.C. It sure seems like these kids decided the legal system is a joke, so they capitalized on the lax response to the initial crime.

The WTOP report says one of the boys brandished a gun at three different sets of victims in under 15 minutes on April 24. For his efforts, the pint-sized thief was able to steal two cars. Then the next day, he’s accused of assaulting a driver and stealing that victim’s vehicle, presumably with the threat of shooting the person if they didn’t comply.

We’ve seen kids nabbed for stealing cars all over the place. Oftentimes, theft rings will recruit minors as young as 10-years-old since they know prosecutors won’t do much to them. These kids are trained, given the proper tools to boost vehicles, and sent out with orders of what to steal and sometimes even where to go. We don’t know if that’s the case with these two 12-year-olds but it wouldn’t be a shock to learn they were recruited and trained by older, hardened criminals.

Just what is society coming to that children are learning to steal by using the threat of lethal violence?