6 teens charged for violent DC robberies

WASHINGTON - D.C. police arrested six boys last week, one as young as 12 years old, and charged them with several robberies and attempted robberies in the city. Two of those crimes turned violent.

In recent months, D.C. police have made a point of announcing the number of people they have arrested for robberies. When they list these people, they are putting their ages next to them. But with juveniles, they have not been listing ages until recently.

Over the weekend, police put out a news release saying they had arrested a 15-year-old, two 14-year-olds, two 13-year-olds and a 12-year-old for a variety of robberies that had taken place around the city.

One of the robberies happened last Monday evening when a woman was walking to her home in the Dupont Circle neighborhood. Four young boys walked up and announced the robbery. The victim said one of them pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot her if she did not give up her property. She ignored them and instead walked into her lobby and called 911.

Just a few minutes later and a few blocks away, a woman said she was on the phone and walking down T Street near 18th Street when four young boys approached announcing a robbery while pulling out a gun. She said she was surrounded, but like the woman in the prior incident, she ignored them and headed home. Later, police stopped a 13-year-old boy and she positively identified him as being involved.

The police report said the gun that the suspects implied to have was actually a cigarette lighter designed to look like a gun.

On July 30 at around 4 p.m., a man was on North Capitol Street holding his iPhone when three young boys approached and snatched it out of his hands. He said he then went after the boys. According to the police report, they then turned on him and all three of them attacked the man.

The police stopped all three suspects - their ages were 12, 13 and 14 years old.

Another robbery on June 29 was also violent and also involved four young boys. A man said he was on Eastern Avenue when a man came up behind him, stuck a gun to the back of his head and demanded his backpack. He said there were three other people involved. He fought back and knocked the gun to the ground and all them pounced and started beating him.

He said the last he saw of the four of them, they were headed over to the Takoma Metro station and last seen running up the tracks towards Silver Spring.