Two 12-year-old boys arrested for separate crime sprees in DC

WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Two 12-year-old boys are facing charges in the District, after two separate crime sprees.

According to police, a boy was arrested Wednesday after attempting to rob an establishment on Good Hope Road southeast at 4:36 p.m., attempting to carjack a person at 4:38 p.m. on Naylor Road and robbing a victim at 4:46 p.m. on the same road.

Thursday, a different boy was arrested for various crimes dating back through March, including half a dozen armed carjackings.

“It’s frustrating, it’s disappointing of course,” said Vaughn Edmeade, who works in southeast where the crimes happened Wednesday. “If a 12-year-old is making that kind of decision it probably seems fun, probably seems like something that will get him noticed by maybe the circle he runs with.”

He said the community needs to consider why a child is looking for affirmation in this way, as opposed to other more constructive ways.

“How do you instill new values in these young men and women, so what they value is not hijacking a car?” he said.

“I’m not surprised that 12-year-olds are doing what they’re doing, because the city is structurally incapable of supporting them,” said Tia Bell, founder of the Trigger Project.

The Trigger Project is an organization that aims to prevent gun violence in the community through youth development and public health.

Bell said the city’s structure is backwards and waits until kids are arrested for crime in order to give them support.

“As an organizer, it’s easier for me to get money to support a vigil I’m coordinating, then a birthday party I’m coordinating. And that is structural violence,” she said.

Bell also said the impact of the pandemic is still evident. And, that kids don’t currently have a safe space to process the trauma caused by it.

“There is no such thing as senseless violence, or senseless behavior that we’re seeing. It all makes sense if you calculate murder capital, drug capital, opioid capital, plus gun violence, plus pandemic. And again, just a failing adult system around them. You have what we see today,” she explained.

The Trigger Project will hold a summit on June 2 at Freedom Plaza. Bell said kids will be invited to come talk about violence and how it’s impacting them in the community.