Police in Albuquerque, New Mexico, arrested an 11-year-old boy on allegations that the child went on a violent monthlong crime spree, including car burglaries and shootings.
Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said in a post on social media that it was “disappointing to see a 11-year-old arrested” for crimes that ranged “from burglary to shooting a firearm.”
“But this armed individual’s behavior was escalating and he was a danger to the community,” he said in the post.
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In a statement on Friday, police said the boy was arrested late Thursday.
Medina said in the statement he was “grateful that we took this young suspect into custody without our officers having to use force.”
“Despite his age, this suspect is considered very dangerous because of his use of a firearm and his escalating violence,” the police chief said.
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It was not immediately clear if the boy had a lawyer.
The boy has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy, shooting at or from a motor vehicle, shooting into an occupied dwelling, 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.
Police also released a timeline of the alleged crimes the 11-year-old is accused of participating in.
Police said that on May 5, a car was stolen in the northeast part of the city and recovered an hour later. On May 12, a woman reported that four children were “throwing rocks at the residence and trying to break the windows of the home” and the woman was struck in the leg, the department said in its statement.
The same day, a 12-year-old called police to report a group of boys throwing rocks at her home, police said. The caller was able to identify some of the boys in the group and said they were known as the “Kia Boys,” who were known to frequent the area, according to police.
Albuquerque police said they responded to a commercial burglary, where an individual was seen in a car driving in reverse, crashing into the front security door of a business.
There was over $15,000 in theft and damages and the car was later identified as a stolen vehicle, police said.
On May 29, a man contacted 911 saying he had been shot at by four boys in a blue Kia after he saw the unknown car outside his home, asked the boys to leave, and they returned shortly afterward and shot at him, police said. A 9 mm casing was recovered at the caller’s home.
A few days later, on June 1, police were contacted about a shooting with reports of a man who had been shot in the hand and a 9 mm handgun recovered at the scene, police said.
“Through information from several witnesses, victim statements and surveillance video, detectives were able to identify the juvenile and secure an arrest warrant,” police said in the statement.
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