4 teens arrested for Baltimore carjacking of elderly woman caught on video, police say
WJZ obtained security camera footage from a nearby business that shows a group of teens carjacking an elderly woman in Baltimore.
Police said four teens were arrested Wednesday after they allegedly forced a 76-year-old woman from her car and took off in the vehicle.
Baltimore police said the woman reported being carjacked around 4:47 a.m. on Tuesday, March 11 in the 3200 block of Washington Boulevard.
The video shows the victim was parked when the suspects approached her, eventually forcing her out of her car.
With the help of the department's aviation unit, officers found the stolen vehicle on Wednesday, March 13, on I-95 near the Caton Avenue exit. They arrested three 15-year-old boys and a 16-year-old boy.
Two of the 15-year-olds and the 16-year-old were taken to the Juvenile Justice Center, where they were charged with robbery and auto theft.
The other 15-year-old was taken to central booking, where he was charged with carjacking as an adult, according to police.
One of the suspects has been arrested for a carjacking before, according to police.
People WJZ spoke with say more needs to be done about juvenile crime in Baltimore.
"They need to do something with the young children to keep them occupied, so they don't think about doing the things that they do," said Cheryl Banks.
Violent crime down in Baltimore
According to data from Baltimore Police, there have been 144 cases of auto theft in the city so far this year.
In 2024, the city saw a major drop in violent crimes, including homicides and non-fatal shootings.
On March 3, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott reported that homicides were down 29% compared to that time in 2024, and non-fatal shootings were down 41%.
Juvenile arrests are down as of March 3, according to police data. In 2024, 194 juveniles were arrested by that date. This year, 182 have been arrested by that date.
Addressing juvenile crime
At a hearing with Baltimore City Council's Public Safety Committee this week, Baltimore Police leaders said juvenile crime remains a priority.
Deputy Commissioner Kevin Jones said the department is "hyper focused" on these crimes. He said they work with the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, or DJS, to track these youth "in reference to monitoring problematic individuals, reaching out to individuals and trying to extract those who are doing the hard to our community."
Police have also been modifying their processes to keep tabs on juvenile offenders, starting with the booking process.
Deputy Chief Lisa Reynolds said they've centralized the booking process, working with DJS and the Baltimore City State's Attorney Office as soon as someone is arrested.
During a meeting at the end of 2024, Maryland leaders said they would focus on creating new strategies to address juvenile crime, especially as the legislative session got underway.
However, some efforts to address juvenile crime have faced backlash.
In January, ahead of the 2025 legislative session, Maryland's Office of the Public Defender called for lawmakers to end the automatic charging of minors as adults, saying the process disproportionately impacts Black and brown children.
In 2023, Maryland passed a Juvenile Reform Act that allowed officials to charge children between the ages of 10 and 12 with certain offenses like gun possession and auto theft.
Baltimore Police have partnered with residents to address juvenile crime through an initiative called Safe Growth, which aims to improve crime hotspots by adding lighting and cameras and preventing illegal dumping.
