Police link teens to five Wednesday crimes

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Two teenagers suspected in a Wednesday crime spree have been in trouble with the law before, and now police officials say they could be responsible for five separate crimes from Wednesday.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Deputy Chief Gregg Bieberich offered the following timeline of crimes from Wednesday the department says are connected to the 15-year-old and 17-year-old:

• 7:33 a.m., 5800 block of Sapelo Drive, woman robbed in her open garage
• 7:40 a.m., Earl and Tammy drives, attempted robbery of a 62-year-old man
• 8:08 a.m., 3300 block of Babette Court, 38-year-old John Yingling killed in his driveway
• 9:33 a.m., Dandy Trail and 56th Street, man shot walking his dog
• 11:15 a.m., police chase that led into Brownsburg

IMPD is investigating previous arrests and associations the teens may have had to see if other teenagers may have been involved.

The 17-year-old was still hospitalized Thursday for a medical condition, so investigators haven’t interviewed him or been able to take his photograph to see if potential victims could identify him as the perpetrator.

PHOTOS | View images from the crime spree and chase

IMPD officials and 24-Hour News 8’s research indicates both teens have had run-ins with police before.

“I would say they are no strangers to law enforcement,” Bieberich said.

The 17-year-old will be 18 in less than 3 months and according to IMPD reports, he has been mentioned 35 times for cases such as running away from home, a child in need of services and attempted robbery. He was last arrested on Nov. 26 for an attempted robbery.

The 15-year-old boy ran away earlier this month and was arrested last month for a robbery of an 85-year-old woman.

One of the boys was wearing an ankle bracelet monitoring device when he was arrested, but IMPD officials were uncertain who was monitoring it.

Both boys were arrested on preliminary charges of dangerous possession of a firearm and resisting law enforcement. IMPD officials said additional charges are possible as the investigation continues.

Due to not being able to interview one of the teens, police said they were unsure of a possible motive for crimes as of Thursday afternoon.