Police said 12 juvenile teens and an 18-year-old were arrested Monday in connection with carjackings or vehicle theft.
All juvenile suspects were taken to police district stations and then released to their parents, according to the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD).
According to police, at about 12:29 p.m. Monday an officer identified a Nissan Sentra and a Honda Accord taken in armed carjackings around Georgia and Wayne avenues. The officer followed one car while waiting for backup.
Police said there was a brief pursuit and the Nissan crashed into a tree at Dennis and Douglas avenues. All five occupants were apprehended, including the driver: Samuel Fikru, 18, of Silver Spring. Police said he faces armed carjacking charges and motor vehicle theft-related charges. He is currently being held without bond.
The other four occupants were juvenile teens: three 15-year-olds and one 16-year-old. Two bb guns and a knife were recovered from the car. They are charged with auto theft-related charges, obstructing and hindering, and malicious destruction of property.
Police said both cars were taken in armed carjackings.
Officers found the Honda around 2 p.m. near Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, which was briefly put on lockdown as police worked to find suspects, who got out of the car and ran. One 15-year-old girl was apprehended when the suspects initially ran, according to police. Police said she was not charged and was released to her parents.
Separately, police said an off-duty Baltimore County officer reported a Kia Sedona with a broken window near Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville.
Emergency Communications reported the vehicle as stolen earlier the same day.
Police located the five juvenile teen occupants in the Calverton neighborhood. The stolen Kia crashed into another car during an attempted traffic stop and came to a stop on Cherry Hill Road, police said. All five occupants — a 14-year-old driver, three 16-year-olds and a 17-year-old — ran and two were apprehended. The other three got into an Infiniti with two other teens ages 15 and 16.
Then, the Infiniti came back to the Calverton area and all five got out to watch the initial two suspects be arrested. Officers took them all into custody upon recognizing three of the teens as the suspects related to the stolen Kia.
Police said the teens in the Kia are charged with unlawful taking of motor vehicle and related offenses. The 15 and 16-year-olds in the Infiniti are charged with conspiracy to commit motor vehicle theft, obstructing and hindering, and other conspiracy-related charges, police said.
