A 13-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy are facing charges after Baltimore police say they robbed a man at gunpoint in broad daylight, taking his jacket and shoes before officers tracked them down just blocks away. The robbery unfolded Wednesday afternoon in the city's Dunbar-Broadway neighborhood, and it ended with the discovery that the handgun allegedly brandished during the crime was a black BB gun.
Officers were called around 12:45 p.m. Wednesday to the 200 block of North Caroline Street for a reported armed robbery, according to WBFF. Police said two unidentified male suspects approached the victim and took his jacket and shoes, with one of them displaying a black handgun during the encounter.
A search of the area turned up two boys, ages 13 and 14, who matched the descriptions given by the victim, the station reported. Officers recovered a black BB gun along with the victim's stolen property, and both juveniles were taken to Juvenile Booking for processing.
Part of a Wider Pattern of Teen Robberies in Baltimore
The Caroline Street incident lands amid a broader wave of robberies across the city targeting people for their clothing. Baltimore police have said there have been at least 20 recent robberies involving victims wearing expensive coats, according to CBS News Baltimore. Investigators have said robbers typically target students before and after school, often catching them alone at bus stops or in dark areas, and the station reports the robberies have spread beyond their original Southeast Baltimore alert to citywide incidents as well as into Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County.
Those arrested in the coat robberies have ranged from 15 to 18 years old, per the same account — a notably older group than the two boys taken into custody Wednesday. In response, police said they are partnering with city school police and the Maryland Transit Administration in an effort to curb the thefts.
More Arrests Reported Across the Region
The Caroline Street arrests follow other recent cases involving groups of teenagers accused of robbery in the Baltimore area. CBS News Baltimore has reported that nine teenagers were arrested in Baltimore County in connection with robberies spanning both the county and the city. Six of those teens were arrested in Towson following alleged armed robberies near shopping centers in Owings Mills and near The Fresh Market, while five others were accused of assaulting and robbing a 31-year-old man in Baltimore City before fleeing to the county, according to the outlet's reporting.
The string of arrests underscores a pattern local police have been tracking across jurisdictions for weeks.
Juvenile Justice Rules Loom Over Young Suspects
Maryland law draws sharp lines around how young suspects can be handled by the justice system. A legislative analysis from the Maryland General Assembly's Department of Legislative Services notes that, outside specified circumstances, the juvenile court does not have jurisdiction over a child younger than 13 in a delinquency proceeding, and such a child generally may not be charged with a crime. Because both boys arrested Wednesday are 13 and older, that particular threshold does not appear to be at issue in this case based on the available information.
Police have not released the names of the two boys, and it remains unclear whether formal charges have been filed following their processing at Juvenile Booking. The victim's age and condition were also not detailed in the information released by authorities.
