Juveniles charged in high-speed chase
Children’s Court hears about parental problems with kids
Accompanied by frustrated and at times tearful parents, the four juvenile defendants charged in an armed robbery and high-speed chase that ended when they crashed into an offduty police officer last week appeared in Children’s Court for their detention hearings Tuesday afternoon.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, early Friday morning five teenagers, ranging in age from 13 to 19, lured a male to a “known gang house” on the 3200 block of Cypress SW. The male, whose age was not released, said he followed a girl he knew — 16-year-old Janay Marin — into the house, and that’s when the teenage boys cornered him.
Conrad Trujillo, 17, allegedly pointed a gun at the victim’s head, and the teenagers demanded the keys to his silver Toyota, according to the complaint. Then they fled.
A short time later, deputies found the car driven by Marin with Trujillo, Mark Rios, 17, Xavier Montoya, 19, and Samuel Mirabal, 13, inside. Marin sped from the traffic stop through the city streets, reaching speeds higher than 110 miles per hour, according to the complaint. Then she ran a red light and T-boned into an off-duty police officer in a marked car on the way home from his shift. Police say the officer was taken to the hospital with broken bones, and a deputy also sustained minor injuries during the chase.
The five teenagers were arrested and charged with kidnapping, armed robbery, aggravated battery, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and evading an officer.
Montoya was charged as an adult. He was released from jail on a $25,000 bond Monday.
When he appeared in Children’s Court on Tuesday, Trujillo was wearing a neck brace and said he had received a concussion and 17 stitches from the crash, and Marin had a cut on her nose.
As their children appeared before hearing officer Ted Martinez, parents recounted their difficulties keeping their children at home and out of trouble, and said they were using drugs and associating with gang members.
“I’m afraid for him to come home because I don’t think he’ll stay there,” one parent said about her son. “He’s associating with the wrong crowd, and they have more influence over him than I do. I’ve tried and tried, over and over, and nothing works.”
Martinez set bond for Trujillo at $20,000 and Marin at $15,000. He decided to hold Rios and Mirabal without bond.