Four suspects, ages 12 and 14, in custody after 2 carjackings, pursuit
By: Three 14-year-olds and a 12-year-old wound up in jail instead of school on Tuesday after allegedly committing two carjackings, including one at gunpoint.
Aerial video from the King County Sheriff's Office helicopter shows the young suspects in a stolen Dodge Charger trying to get away from Bellevue Police.
According to police, it all started in Renton after an off-duty Seattle Police captain was testing a license plate reader in their patrol car. They ran the plates of a Hyundai Elantra that passed by, and it showed the car had been stolen in Redmond. They followed the car and discovered a 12-year-old driving it.
He notified Bellevue Police around 9:30 a.m. they were following a stolen car in the Phantom Lake area of Bellevue. The SPD captain attempted to stop the vehicle, and when the driver refused to stop, they did not pursue it.
As Bellevue officers were responding, they located the stolen Hyundai Elantra, which had been abandoned. Moments later, a resident called 911 to report a suspicious person in their backyard.
Only the 12-year-old was arrested when officers responded to the suspicious person call. They determined he was connected to the initial stolen car report.
Officers also noticed another vehicle, a Dodge Charger that had been stolen during an armed carjacking in Renton earlier Tuesday morning, and began pursuing the vehicle.
The driver drove through Bellevue to West Lake Sammamish Parkway and eventually up Lakemont Boulevard, where two of three suspects ditched the car and ran into the woods in the Coal Creek Trail system. During the pursuit, the rear tires started to smoke and fall off.
Bellevue Police called in their K9 teams and SWAT because they did not know if they were still armed.
King County’s Guardian One helicopter assisted Bellevue Police in following the suspects during the pursuit and as they fled onto the Coal Creek Trail.
Once enough officers arrived to secure the scene, the suspects were warned twice to give up. They eventually surrendered without incident. There were no injuries to the officers or the suspects.
The two suspects who ran both surrendered, and the third one was found in the backseat of the stolen car.
Bellevue Police planned to serve a search warrant on the Charger to look for the gun used in the carjacking.