On Sunday, Sept. 8, a University of Maryland officer encountered a 12-year-old riding a stolen e-scooter down the sidewalk. The child initially attempted to evade law enforcement, but was soon found nearby, hiding behind dumpsters at a loading dock. In his possession was the key fob to a stolen black Tesla. The stolen vehicle was found parked nearby with its trunk open.
This is the latest in a string of car thefts allegedly executed by the 12-year-old perpetrator. CCTV footage obtained by Montgomery County Police shows the boy breaking into a Pristine Auto Dealership in Rockville last Tuesday by climbing through a window. He can be seen rifling through drawers before then stealing a vehicle and driving away with it. Police said he was then arrested in another area.
"Last Tuesday, this kid was sneaking into our warehouse, stole our car keys, and took our cargo van in just a couple of seconds, like in less than two minutes. The day before, he was walking around trying to open doors but couldn't get inside... but he came back the next day," said Juan Carlos Castillo, who owns Pristine Auto in Rockville. "I'm frustrated because he could hurt somebody. He could crash into someone, and it's not the first time he's done this. He's stolen so many cars from dealers."
Castillo also says bags of fast food as well as stolen cell phones and tablets were found inside the stolen vehicle when police apprehended the 12-year-old last Wednesday.
According to law enforcement, the child has now broken into six luxury car dealerships over the course of months, including Audi and BMW in Rockville, as well as Jaguar and Porsche. According to a Maryland juvenile justice reform law passed in 2022, anyone under the age of 13 accused of property crimes cannot be criminally charged, and so the child has been released into the custody of his parents each time.
"That young individual is in need of some supervision, and I think that it's critical that he gets that," said Assistant Chief David McBain. "That is a D.C. resident, and we are actually actively working with the D.C. government."
This is the tenth time campus police have caught the boy with either a stolen car or stolen scooter since March, according to the University of Maryland Police Department.
"A juvenile offender who does not live in Maryland who has hit many of our car dealerships here shows you some of the shortcomings that exist in the solutions that were crafted last year by the legislature and it's not, you know -- sometimes these fixes are more complex than that," Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said. "The system we are stuck in now has allowed these repeated occasions to occur."
