Police arrest 15-year-old San Jose boy suspected of Great Mall carjacking
MILPITAS >> A 15-year-old San Jose boy suspected of a carjacking last summer at the Great Mall parking lot was arrested, along with two other teens connected to the crime, police announced Tuesday.
The three teens, ages 14, 15 and 16, were already being held in a Santa Clara County Juvenile Detention Facility on unrelated charges when Milpitas detectives issued them citations on Oct. 31 for suspicion of carjacking and possession of a stolen vehicle, according to police. Because the three San Jose boys are juveniles, their names were not released.
The carjacking took place at 12:04 a.m. July 10. The male victim told Milpitas he was at the mall parking lot when a “man pulled him from his Nissan Altima at knifepoint.”
Witnesses told police they saw the Nissan leave the parking lot followed by a Green Honda CRV occupied by multiple people. Minutes later, officers located the Honda CRV crashed and abandoned at an intersection next to the mall parking lot.
The Honda CRV was reported stolen out of San Jose. A few days later, the Nissan was located by police in San Jose.
Milpitas police said detectives gathered evidence from the stolen vehicles that led to the identification of the 15-year-old carjacking suspect, along with two other teen suspects associated to the stolen Honda. The two boys connected to the stolen Honda were cited only for suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle.
The arrests follow a recent trend of Santa Clara County teens being suspected of violent crimes. In October, five juveniles and two adults suspected of embarking on a fivehour crime spree across three South Bay cities were arrested after leading police on a chase and crashing into a guardrail.
In January, a suspected robbery crew made up mostly of teenagers was arrested in connection with at least 30 robberies and carjackings in San Jose, dating back to spring of 2017.
Anyone with information regarding the Milpitas investigation is asked to contact the Milpitas Police Department at 408-5862400. Information can be provided anonymously by calling the Crime Tip Hotline at 408-586-2500.