8 teens face charges in connection to 2 carjackings
LAWRENCE, Ind. (WISH) — A group of eight teenagers are facing charges in connection carjackings in Indianapolis and Lawrence.
The group of 14- and 15-year-olds were taken into custody Wednesday.
At the Harrison Point Apartments in Lawrence, four teenagers approached a man and stole his car. Deputy Chief Gary Woodruff of the Lawrence Police Department said the teens already had a target on their backs from earlier in the day.
“The four individuals who arrived in the complex driving a vehicle that had been stolen earlier that morning in a neighborhood just south of 38th (Street) and Post (Road)” in Indianapolis, Woodruff said.
At some point, the teens took off in the two stolen cars and went separate ways, five teens in one car, and three more teens in the other. Woodruff said an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer spotted the car in a apartment complex in the Castleton area on the northeast side.
There was a brief vehicle chase followed by a foot chase. Eventually, both Indianapolis and Lawrence police officers arrested the five teenagers who were in one of the vehicles. Woodruff said it didn’t take long to find the other three teens.
“While the officers were investigating that scene, both IMPD and Lawrence officers, the vehicle that had been used during the carjacking, that had been stolen earlier in the day, drove past the scene,” Woodruff said.
The Lawrence deputy chief said that led to another short chase before the arrests, and all of the teens were 14 or 15 years old. Woodruff said they’re all facing charges; the apartment complex carjacking group is looking at the most serious criminal allegations.
“The four individuals in that incident are all charged with Level 3 felony, armed robbery and the other juveniles involved face a variety of charges either misdemeanor or lower felony charges ranging from fleeing law enforcement to illegal entry into a motor vehicle,” Woodruff said.
He said both IMPD and Lawrence police are still investigating the carjackings. He couldn’t say if the teens were connected to any others in the city or where the group got the gun.
