A month-long crime wave orchestrated by a band of youths came to a screeching halt following a dramatic police chase that culminated in the arrest of five juvenile suspects. According to a report by the Seattle Police Department, officers responded to a tip about five masked males abandoning a vehicle and then hijacking another in the 8000 block of 16th Avenue Northwest.
Armed with information from witnesses who provided vehicle plates, law enforcement quickly pieced together that these vehicles were linked to an armed robbery earlier in the day. Flooding the area were detectives suspected that the juveniles, based on descriptions and modus operandi, started their crime spree at April's end. A patrol unit located the vehicle soon after, with King County Sheriff’s Office Air Support Unit, Guardian One, aiding in tracking the suspect's movements.
In a swift operation involving the SPD’s SWAT Team, the young suspects led officers on a chase, eventually resulting in a crash at the intersection of Northwest 80th Street and 15th Avenue Northwest, slamming into an uninvolved vehicle. Remarkably, there were no major injuries reported. The suspects, after a brief chase on foot, three were immediately apprehended and two were captured shortly afterwards—one found by Guardian One hiding in a yard.
Seattle detectives believe the teenage crew is responsible for more than dozen offenses since the start of their illegal escapades on April 29. The suspects implicated in a spree including robberies, assaults, auto thefts, and hit and runs, allegedly targeted settings as diverse as a convenience store at gunpoint and a woman assaulted in Woodlawn Avenue North – on a single day. Particularly distressing, tried to run over a man with a vehicle at the Magnuson Park Boat Launch.
The apprehended youths, whose ages rang from the disquieting young ages of 12 to 16, are currently held at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center.
