New Mexico police arrest 11-year-old boy following months-long criminal allegations

Police in Albuquerque, New Mexico, arrested an 11-year-old boy based on allegations that the child committed a month-long violent crime spree, including car burglaries and shootings.

Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said in a social media post that it was “disappointing to see an 11-year-old arrested” for crimes ranging “from burglary to shooting a gun “.

“But the behavior of this armed individual was getting worse and he posed a danger to the community,” he said in his message.

In a statement released Friday, police said the boy was arrested Thursday evening.

Medina said in the release that he was “grateful that we arrested this young suspect without our officers having to use force.”

“Despite his age, this suspect is considered very dangerous due to his use of a firearm and his escalation of violence,” said the police chief.

It was not immediately clear whether the boy had an attorney.

The boy was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy, shooting at or from a motor vehicle, shooting into an occupied dwelling, aggravated battery, unlawful possession of a weapon by a minor, non-residential burglary and criminal damage to property over $1,000. , and conspiracy to commit a felony in the fourth degree.

Police also released a timeline of alleged crimes the 11-year-old is accused of taking part in.

Police said that on May 5, a car was stolen in the city's northeast and recovered an hour later. On May 12, a woman reported that four children were “throwing rocks at the residence and trying to break the windows of the home” and the woman was struck in the leg, the department said in its statement.

The same day, a 12-year-old girl called police to report a group of boys throwing rocks at her home, police said. The caller was able to identify some of the boys in the group and said they were known as the “Kia Boys,” who frequented the area, according to police.

Albuquerque police said they responded to a commercial burglary, in which an individual was seen in a car driving in reverse, crashing into the security door of a business.

There was more than $15,000 in theft and damage and the car was later identified as a stolen vehicle, police said.

On May 29, a man called 911 to say that four boys in a blue Kia had shot him after seeing the unknown car in front of his home, he asked the boys to leave, and they returned shortly after and shot him, police said. A 9 mm shell casing was found at the appellant's home.

A few days later, on June 1, police were contacted about a shooting. A man was shot in the hand and a 9mm handgun was found at the scene, police said.

“Through information from multiple witnesses, victim statements and surveillance video, detectives were able to identify the juvenile and obtain an arrest warrant,” police said in the release.