Police in Albuquerque, New Mexico, arrested an 11-year-old boy because they say he committed a month of dangerous crimes, such as breaking into cars and shooting people.
In a social media post, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said it was “disappointing to see an 11-year-old arrested” for crimes ranging from “burglary to shooting a gun.”
“But this armed person was acting worse, and he was a threat to the community,” he wrote in the post.
When asked about the boy on Friday, cops said that he was arrested late Thursday night.
Medina wrote in the statement that he was “thankful that we were able to arrest this young suspect without having to use force.”
The police chief said, “This suspect is very dangerous, even though he is young, because he uses a gun and his violence is getting worse.”
It wasn’t clear right away if the boy had a lawyer.
A fourth-degree felony conspiracy charge, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, unlawful possession of a weapon by a minor, nonresidential burglary, criminal damage to property over $1,000, and conspiracy to commit a fourth-degree felony have all been brought against the boy.
A list of the crimes the 11-year-old is accused of committing was also made public by the police.
Police said a car was stolen in the northeast of the city on May 5 and found an hour later. The department said in a statement that on May 12, a woman said that four children were “throwing rocks at the residence and trying to break the windows of the home.” The woman was hit in the leg.
Police said that the same day, a 12-year-old girl called them to say that a group of boys were throwing rocks at her house. The caller recognized some of the boys in the group and said they were the “Kia Boys.” Police say these boys were known to hang out in the area.
Police in Albuquerque said they were called to a commercial crime where someone was seen driving backwards and smashing into a business’s front guard door.
Theft and damage totaled more than $15,000, and the cops said the car was later found to have been stolen.
On May 29, a man called 911 to say that four boys in a blue Kia had shot at him after he saw the unknown car outside his house and told the boys to leave. Police say that the boys came back soon after and shot him. At the caller’s house, a 9 mm shell was found.
The next day, on June 1, police were called to the scene of a shooting and told that a guy had been shot in the hand. A 9 mm handgun was found at the scene, police said.
The police said in a statement, “They were able to identify the juvenile and get an arrest warrant by using information from several witnesses, victim statements, and surveillance video.”
