MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A 17-year-old was arrested Friday night after being accused of a carjacking.
Officers responded to a carjacking call in the 3000 block of Lamar Avenue just before 9 p.m. Friday. They later received information that the stolen vehicle was last seen at February Road and Peace Street in southwest Memphis.
When officers tried to conduct a traffic stop on Horn Lake Road, the driver of the stolen vehicle struck a curb and sidewalk.
Officers said the teen suspect exited the vehicle and led police on a foot chase. He was captured in the 100 block of East Shelby Drive.
He has been charged with carjacking, vandalism and possession of a weapon.
This is not the first time the teen has been arrested. At age 12, he was arrested for domestic violence.
The 17-year-old has also been arrested for:
- Disorderly Conduct at age 13
- Criminal Trespassing at age 14
- Simple Assault at ages 14 and 15
- Aggravated Assault at age 15
The teen’s identity has not been released due to his age.
District Attorney-Elect Steve Mulroy and MPD top brass spoke with WREG about what can be done about the growing number of violent young offenders after police highlighted the case in a social media post.
Memphis Police Deputy Chief Samuel Hines spoke to us about this recent trend.
“It’s something we’ve been seeing pretty much every day,” Chief Hines said. “I think we kind of wanted to share this information with the public and make them aware of some of the crimes going on in the city, specifically the age group that’s committing the crime.”
Two teens are also accused of committing crimes such as the recent murder of well-known Memphis pastor Dr. Autura Eason-Davis.
“We look forward to working with the new Juvenile Court judge and whatever programs he’s going to bring on and we’re going to continue to enforce the laws and hold them accountable,” Chief Hines said.
WREG reached out to Shelby County District Attorney-elect Steve Mulroy to find out how his DA office will handle young violent offenders.
“Absolutely crime, particularly violent crime has to be our number one priority. I’ve said that from the beginning,” Mulroy said. “My overall approach is there are going to be rare cases where we have no choice but to transfer a child to adult court and adult”
But he also cautions that is not always the solution.
“That should only be done as a last resort and not a first instinct because that basically means that we’re giving up on that child and saying that they can’t be rehabilitated,” Mulroy said.
With kids and crime, it’s an ongoing problem with no easy solutions.
“We have to get at them while we still can and get them away from a life of a career criminal,” Mulroy said.
Memphis Police said they will continue working with community leaders to find solutions to youth violence because they can’t do it on their own.
“We got to able to get the juvenile and the young adult in the right program quickly and try to save the ones that we can,” Chief Hines said.
