By Mike Carter
The Seattle Times
SEATTLE — Two brothers, ages 12 and 13, have been charged in King County Juvenile Court with theft and robbery after a carjacking and wild police chase down Aurora Avenue, according to prosecutors.
The incident occurred Feb. 13 and involved the brothers stealing a car from a woman at gunpoint after threatening her and firing a shot into the air, charging documents said. Police recovered a shell casing at the scene. Police say the boys threatened another driver with a gun as well.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on Friday charged the boys with first-degree robbery involving a weapon, theft of a motor vehicle, attempted first-degree robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm. In addition, the 13-year-old was charged with a felony count of eluding police.
The Seattle Times generally does not identify suspects charged as juveniles.
According to charging documents and the Seattle Police Department, the incident began around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday when a man in the Greenwood neighborhood reported he had been approached by two boys who tried to steal his car and fired a shot into the air. He locked the car’s doors and told the boys he didn’t have any money, and they left, according to the documents.
A few minutes later, a woman called 911 from an Arco gas station, near Aurora Avenue and North 85th Street, to report that two juveniles had approached her car, tapped on the window, pointed a gun at her and ordered her out of the car. They made off with her Subaru Outback and personal items, according to the charges.
One of the boys told her she was being robbed because his mother had just kicked him out of the house, the documents say.
Officers who had responded to the man’s report of an attempted carjacking were interviewing him when one spotted the stolen Subaru driving by and gave a brief chase, but was unable to catch up, according to the charges.
About an hour later, an officer spotted the Subaru near North 125th Street and Aurora Avenue North. A pursuit was authorized and the King County Sheriff’s Office helicopter was brought in to assist.
Officers tried to stop the suspects near Wallingford Avenue North and North 82nd Street, but the pair sped away. The pursuit ended at Seventh Avenue North and Thomas Street when the stolen car struck a barrier and was disabled.
The charging documents say police clocked the Subaru traveling more than 80 mph. At one point, it forced another car off the road and onto the sidewalk to avoid a collision, documents said.
Both boys ran from the scene carrying handguns, according to the charges. The 13-year-old driver dropped his handgun and surrendered after a brief foot chase, the charges said. The passenger surrendered after he was tracked down by a police dog, according to the documents.
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