CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: Teenage suspects charged in West Seattle-to-Burien armed carjacking

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed felony charges today against the two teenage boys arrested in a Burien ravine last Friday night after an armed carjacking in a West Seattle alley. They are 15 and 17, and both are charged as juveniles, so we are not publishing their names. Both suspects are charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree unlawful gun possession, and second-degree taking a motor vehicle without permission (in reference to the Audi carjacked in West Seattle); the 15-year-old is also charged with possession of a stolen vehicle (in reference to the Hyundai, stolen in Federal Way, in which they arrived at the carjacking location). The charging documents say both had handguns, one with an extended magazine, as they approached the victims, a woman and man, demanding their phones and other items. Prosecutors say that officers found two guns – one in a backpack along the search trail, the other – a so-called “ghost gun” with an extended magazine and “auto-switch” – on the Hyundai’s floorboard. While searching the ravine, police also found other items described as resembling what the carjackers were seen wearing in security video that recorded the robbery in an alley near 35th/Roxbury – including black balaclavas and blue medical-style gloves. Both suspects remain in custody, and are scheduled for arraignment tomorrow afternoon. (Checking King County court records, the 15-year-old has one conviction, for fourth-degree assault, in a case from last fall that just ended with a guilty plea a month ago, while the 17-year-old does not appear to have a record.)

LawnOrder April 17, 2024 (6:48 pm)

This is ridiculous. Both should be charged as adults. It should be automatic if the suspect is 15 or older and the crime involves a car or use of a gun. We need to change the law. And now.

K April 17, 2024 (8:13 pm)

Fifteen-year-olds don’t appreciate consequences the way adults do. There is a separate system for youth for a reason. Unfortunately the system is set up based on the science and not your feelings.
- B April 17, 2024 (10:34 pm)
  
  How do you feel about putting the parents of juvenile violent crime committers on notice by making their info public since they are responsible for the crimes of their underage convict ‘children’? Aren’t parents the ones who know the consequences and are failing to teach and enforce that?
  - K April 18, 2024 (6:56 am)
    
    Who do you want put “on notice”? The parents listed on the birth certificate? The grandparents, aunts, and uncles who intervened and raised the child when the biological parents were unable? The friend’s parents who took them in when their parents kicked them out at 13 or 14? Any of the series of foster parents they’ve had for years running? You assume everyone had the upbringing that you did and the opportunities that you did, and judge the choices they make based on the very, very narrow lens of your own experience. Single points of failure do not have children carrying weapons in stolen vehicles. Make no mistake, there are issues to be addressed, but doling out punishment to those who’ve lived a life of nothing but punishment will do nothing to teach them right or wrong, at an age when it is still demonstrably possible to still mold them into productive members of society.
    - M April 18, 2024 (9:28 am)
      
      Well said, K.
- Chrissy D April 17, 2024 (11:15 pm)
  
  Give me a break. These kids know exactly what they’re doing, it’s a different world these days, they should be charged as adults, that law needs to change. “Oh, we didn’t know that was wrong, sorry officer.
- X April 18, 2024 (8:22 am)
  
  Pathetic criminal sympathizer: most 15 year olds do not commit violent felonies and many of the ones who do (especially repeat offenders) continue criminal behavior into adulthood. The legal system isn’t just there to reform but to protect society against those who do not value the lives of innocents. People like you are enablers and do more harm to young men than anyone else; you obscure consequence and severity and do nothing to stop them from the path they’re on.
  - Woof April 18, 2024 (11:59 am)
    
    VERY well said “X”! You summarized my thoughts exactly. Thank you!

East Coast Cynic April 17, 2024 (7:02 pm)

Why wasn’t that 15 year old put in “juvie jail” after his convicton???? Was it just his first strike and was allowed some sort of probation that allowed him to go home and play video games and build ghost guns?

Rob April 17, 2024 (7:16 pm)

Lock um up

Dd April 17, 2024 (7:51 pm)

15 and 17 yers old. Perhaps Dad and Mom should be held somewhat responsible? Think about it!

onion April 17, 2024 (8:29 pm)

How is it, in 15 or 17 short years of life, that individuals can become this corrupt?

Derp April 17, 2024 (9:16 pm)

Poor or no parenting at all.
oerthehillz April 17, 2024 (9:33 pm)

Good question. I think we’re going through a period of parenting where there’s fear of damaging their “spirit” so consequences and boundaries aren’t generously taught. That, along with lax laws, and we’ve created young people who don’t care about anyone or anything other than street credit and social media.
- JH April 17, 2024 (10:11 pm)
  
  That logic doesn’t track. Not all young people are doing this. It’s probably a very small percentage. Asking what leads or pushes young people to commit violent crimes is a good question, but I doubt it’s because they’ve experienced an over abundance of care or for lack of severe legal consequences. Saying that presumes laws alone keep us all from stealing from and assaulting each other. I doubt that’s true for you. I know it’s not for me. So what does? The answer seems like a better indicator of what kids are lacking who throw their lives away like this than assuming they just needed tougher discipline and harsher laws.

James April 17, 2024 (8:39 pm)

The judges who decide time and time again to allow these criminal both adults and juveniles back into society without any hard jail time should be personally liable for any crimes these individuals commit in the years following their release. I would truly like to understand the logic of these judges thinking it’s ok to release these dangerous criminals back into society without any real punishment, why won’t they put them in jail for a long time or why do they think that electric home monitoring is an effective punishment when they can and will just cut off their monitoring bracelets to continue their crime sprees . SMH. Enough is enough!

Derp April 17, 2024 (11:38 pm)

They didn’t get released, they are still in jail.
bill April 17, 2024 (11:50 pm)

The judges are following the laws and sentencing guidelines established by the legislators you helped elect. BTW the 17-yo does not have a record so he was not released “back into society without any real punishment.”
- Jeff April 18, 2024 (8:49 am)
  
  We need to vote out any legislator who thinks the solution to crime is just jail when it provably doesn’t work to prevent future crime. We need laws beefing up basic needs so people don’t need to resort to crime and gangs. Crime will continue forever until we fix social safety nets.

SoWhen April 17, 2024 (9:38 pm)

Any idea on who they were going to sell the car to?Obviously they had planned out the jacking, they must have known where they could offload the car quickly.

WSB April 17, 2024 (9:41 pm)

No, they don’t sell these cars. As was reiterated by police at a meeting I was at tonight, cars are stolen almost solely for the commission of other crimes. In cases like this one, as described during the wave of carjackings a few months back, they’re “upgrading their stolen car” – while they all know how to steal Kias, Hyundais, and certain other types, you pretty much need the keys to make off with one of these high-end vehicles.
- grocerylist April 18, 2024 (8:05 am)
  
  It’s not true that you need keys for “high-end vehicles”. Most cars can be unlocked with a laptop/transmitter then started and stolen by hacking the OBD2 port in less than a minute.
  - 1994 April 18, 2024 (9:02 pm)
    
    Don’t put that on tiktok!

Continued Teen Crime April 18, 2024 (1:00 am)

when will this end? has it ever been this bad before?@WSB are you following the cases brought against the guy that required a swat team on Fauntleroy last month?

WSB April 19, 2024 (12:43 am)

Still in jail, charged both in the home invasion for which he was held, and also illegal gun possession for the modified gun he allegedly tossed while fleeing.
- Home Invasion Guy April 19, 2024 (1:10 am)
  
  Thank You ~ Was his connection to WS ever known? Do you usually follow these major crime stories through the trial?
  - WSB April 19, 2024 (1:31 am)
    
    No, I’ve read through the added charging documents and there’s still no explanation of why he was here or how they found him here. I do my best to follow cases but few ever go to trial – they get resolved without fanfare, without any heads-up, and I find out just on a routine check of the files.

lucy April 18, 2024 (8:12 am)

I think these “kids” should be put into a juvenile jail, and not released until they get their GED AND show a proficiency in a trade. Then, they will have a chance to become a productive citizen. If they refuse, they can stay in detention until they are 21 and then be conscripted.

Scarlett April 18, 2024 (9:52 am)

No, we won’t be conscripting young men and women who will always be under the threat of being deployed to another illegal war, those wars that a lot of alleged “upstanding” and “responsible” Americans cowardly acquiesce to even as young men and women are coming back mentally and physically broken. By the way, we’re all responsible for society we have today. All of us.
- Triggered April 18, 2024 (10:21 am)
  
  Who said anything about war? Trade is something like carpentry, welding etc. productive members of society. GED is education if you didn’t pick that up either.
  - Scarlett April 18, 2024 (4:33 pm)
    
    Learning a trade is secondary to the military’s real purpose. Maybe you’re lucky and don’t get swept up in a war, maybe you’re aren’t lucky and you’re cannon fodder.
  - Brian April 18, 2024 (4:36 pm)
    
    Do yourself a favor and look up what conscription means before posting.
    - Scarlett April 18, 2024 (9:54 pm)
      
      You’re being purposely pedantic, Brian, to evade the real gist of my comment. Many young men and women are lured into service with promises of a career or cool job skill, but they don’t plan on, or can’t know, the grim reality of war if it comes to that. But because they aren’t technically “conscripted”, it’s okay – right?
    - Rhonda April 19, 2024 (1:12 am)
      
      Scarlett, young people who joined the military in the past 23 years knew FULL WELL that they could very well go to war. In fact, 9/11 inspired many tens of thousands of patriotic young people to enlist. If you’ve never served in the military or been in combat then you’re not going to understand the motivations and sacrifices involved.
K April 18, 2024 (5:55 pm)

Why do they have to learn a trade? Why can’t they train to work in an office? Or the arts? The system is already designed to keep people who enter the justice system from ever fully participating in society after they’re released, which is a major contributor to recidivism. Why contribute positively to a society who doesn’t even feel you should be allowed to sit at a desk like millions of other Americans?

tim April 18, 2024 (9:24 am)

One of them had a machine gun? Nice. If I had one and did nothing I’d be locked up.

Carjacked April 18, 2024 (10:39 am)

If anyone found a green backpack around the BURIEN/white center area we would greatly appreciate its return. If you’re a “Last of us” fan it’s the backpack from this video game. Most importantly It has my husbands black leather wallet. Police/detective hasn’t been helpful in confirming whether or not it was left in the car as it is still under police hold for investigation. My personal wallet, badge were tossed out of the car and found by a Good Samaritan and returned to me and of course tracking via my iPad. I’d appreciate the community’s helpthanks neighbors

WSDUDEMAN April 18, 2024 (11:30 am)

My 8 year-old and my 10 year-old know it’s not a good thing to aim a firearm at someone and steal their car. Quit making excuses for young criminals. This is a lack of parenting and a failure to teach these kids personal responsibility and self-worth.

Tired of the BS April 18, 2024 (1:30 pm)

So many interesting comments. Here we have two criminals that are not identified. I think that we should always know who these criminals are, it helps protect us in the future. I seems that we are more concerned about the rights of criminals over those of the victims, and society is a victim as well.

If we remove the emotion from post, we can look at the facts… the two individuals are in fact 15 and 17 years old, the 15 y/o with a prior criminal record. They we apprehended after committing a robbery, stealing a car and eluding arrest. In the car was found several handguns, one of which was modified to fire as an automatic weapon “machine gun.” Both individuals obtained the guns illegally since they were juveniles and one had a criminal record. If we remove the age component, how would we feel about these individuals? Would we feel differently? I imagine that “lock them up” would be unanimous. And that is where these two belong, locked away so they can not victimize society. Yet, many want (including Executive Constantine) to close the current youth detention center and prevent building a more modern facility better suited for youth offenders.

The problem of youth crime is complex and isn’t going to be fixed on the backs of these two. Does anyone think that releasing them to their parents is going to solve anything? Does anyone think that monitoring these two is going to work? Until a solution involving the community, parents, and justice system is found; confinement is the only way to go.

K April 18, 2024 (6:00 pm)

If they were 5 and 7 instead of 15 and 17, would you still feel that we should “remove the age component” and judge them as we would adults? At what age do you think they should stop being considered children? Science says it’s early 20s. Our laws are already allowing us to punish those without fully developed brains. How much younger should the cut off be?
- Stickerbush April 19, 2024 (7:59 am)
  
  Science has nothing to do with the age of adulthood. People will become adults when they are treated as adults with accompanying rights and responsibilities. Our current culture has moved the age of adulthood way too far out.
  - K April 21, 2024 (8:20 pm)
    
    Science has everything to do with how brains develop. Your personal definition is not and should not be the foundation of the a legal system. No one is advocating for the juveniles to see no consequences. Rather, I and others prefer to follow well-documented research showing that age-appropriate consequences lead to less recidivism and a better chance of becoming a productive adult.

annaeileen April 19, 2024 (12:04 pm)

Reading the comments here and on other posts about the
incident, we only know it’s two juveniles. When people call for their
names, are they in school, who are their parents, we are looking at this
through our own eyes and experiences and that is simple minded and ultimately,
dangerous. Many of the comments appear to be from people that were
raised in a two-parent household and therefore blame the parents for lack of
supervision or guidance when that may not be the case at all. We don’t
know if they are in school or not nor do we know if they are in foster care. We
don’t know if they have two parents, one or are they being raised by other
people. To me, there isn’t any excuses for their behavior
last week. I live close by and I was scared two armed criminals were on the loose
and to hear the cops say to stay inside.
Regardless of how they were raised, they need to be accountable for their
actions.

Scarlett April 20, 2024 (8:07 pm)

No one disagrees with detaining youths who are preying on others. Fine, but now what? Do we keep recycling the same stale failed prescriptions of more police and more prisons, or a stint in the military with fingers crossed they don’t get sacrificed in war that has nothing to do with patriotism or protecting our borders? Do we keep recycling the stale lectures about hard work and accountability when we are slipping into economic feudalism – yes, economic feudalism – and the collapse of upward mobility? In case some of you are nodding off in your comfy recliner in some 1950’s time-warp this country is in a existential crisis, morally and economically. Snap out of it, for gods sake. gooey romantimpire with a nickel in his/her

Sorry, comment time is over.