Two teenagers were arrested on Tuesday afternoon, Mar. 26, 2024 following a crime spree that began in Renton and ended at Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, according to Renton and Tukwila Police officials.
- The incident began at around 2:20 p.m., when a Renton resident reported their 2016 red Hyundai Sonata stolen.
- Later, at 3:15 p.m., there were reports of a red sedan driving recklessly in the area.
- At 3:50 p.m., the situation escalated when two young boys, aged 10 and 8, called 911 to report that a passenger in a red sedan threatened them with a gun near Edmonds Ave NE and Ferndale Ave NE in Renton. Responding officers quickly connected this incident to the stolen vehicle reports.
- The chase ended at Westfield Southcenter Mall in Tukwila where police apprehended two suspects, a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old. Two other suspects, believed to be 14 and 15 years old, remain at large.
This incident highlights a growing concern in the region regarding juvenile crime involving stolen vehicles and firearms. Law enforcement officials have expressed their worries about the seriousness of these crimes and the lack of consequences faced by young offenders.
Police said this incident highlights the increasingly dangerous issue involving juveniles in possession of firearms and stolen vehicles committing serious felony crimes.
“As a profession, we have been sounding the alarm on this trend for months,” police said. “Juveniles committing serious felony crimes with firearms and stolen cars that have no fear of consequences because the consequence and or perception of the consequence is that there is none.”
“These are not victimless crimes,” police added. “Pointing firearms at victims, threatening to kill them, assaulting them, stealing their property sometimes directly from them or from their homes, ripping them and their families from their vehicles in carjackings, causing thousands of dollars in damage to their businesses after ramming stolen cars into the windows/doors then ransacking the businesses. There are very real victims in all of these crimes that are oftentimes left with lasting fear and mental/emotional trauma as a result of these incidents.”
Police add that many of the juveniles they arrest in these incidents have committed serious crime after serious crime and put lives at risk, “between the introduction of firearms and violence to their crimes as well as the extreme reckless driving in stolen vehicles during the commission of these crimes.”
Authorities are calling for a community discussion on how to prevent these crimes, hold offenders accountable, and provide support to the victims.
“There needs to be a very hard, real and open discussion as a region on how we can prevent these crimes going forward, hold those committing these crimes accountable and give the victims of these crimes the resources, assistance and support they need and deserve to rebuild their lives and or livelihoods,” police said.
Video
Below is video from a police helicopter showing some of the chase and its ending at Southcenter: