11-year-old among theft suspects
Three linked to phone robberies bound for pilot program
A pack of marauding juveniles — one just 11 years old — confronted a teen in a Roxbury park and robbed him at knifepoint of his coveted iPhone during what police are calling a two-week crime spree that targeted at least four neighborhood kids for their smartphones.
Detective Lt. Michael McCarthy said the 11-year-old, a 13-year-old and a 16-yearold robbed teens on the street in the Ceylon Park area on May 22, May 25, May 26 and May 30, primarily using a knife to demand iPhones from each victim.
BPD detectives worked with school police to nab the youths and arrested them Wednesday.
The break came when a 19-year-old victim was able to point out three of the suspects at a Burger King a few blocks up Columbia Road. He told police they had robbed him of his iPhone May 26 when he was in the park.
Police said they recovered a knife when the three boys were arrested. They were charged with armed robbery with a knife, with the 16-year-old also hit with a count of carrying a dangerous weapon.
“Hopefully this is a wake-up call for the kids, their families, the community, and for us as a police department,” police Commissioner William B. Evans said in a statement. “An 11-year-old — it’s sad.”
The three youths have been released to the custody of their parents and will be among the first participants in the Suffolk District Attorney’s Juvenile Alternative Resolution program. The pilot teams up prosecutors with University of Massachusetts researchers and community groups to work with juvenile offenders.
Kids in the program work with mentors to change their behavior and perform community service for three to nine months. Teens who successfully complete the program will not be prosecuted further.
The program, which began a month ago, has four youths enrolled and another 15 up for consideration.
Evans said those overseeing the program can now “get in touch with these kids, provide them with services, and try to get them on the right track.”
Workers in the Ceylon Park area had mixed reviews, with Edgar Martinez, manager of Kruger Auto Repair, calling the alternative program “a tap on the hand.”
Dominic Sanchez, a hair stylist at nearby Luxury Palace Salon, said she keeps the doors locked out of fear for her safety but feels the pilot “might work.”
“You can give a second chance,” she said, “but you have to keep your eyes on it.”
Jumaane Kendrick, a program manager at Action for Boston Community Development, which is part of the DA’s pilot, said it’s not an easy ride. If kids don’t do the work, he added, they face their original charges and possible jail time.
“It’s not like we’re trying to let kids off the hook here,” Kendrick said. “But we’re trying not to perpetuate and continue the cycle of youth going in and out of institutions.”