BALTIMORE (WBFF) — The second juvenile suspect involved in an assault and robbery in Butchers Hill near Patterson Park has been identified as the same young person who was accused of stealing more than a dozen cars in Baltimore County over the summer.
The incident was caught on home surveillance video and showed the woman, going only by her first name, Julie, getting assaulted and robbed on a well-lit street near Patterson Park in early November.
“(The boy) tackled me and then punched me in the head, and I got kicked. I was afraid I was going to get shot because you just don’t know, you don’t know,” Julie previously told FOX45 News.
The 12-year-old seen in the video is the same kid who was picked up at least 13 times by Baltimore County Police in connection to a string of stolen cars between May and August 2023, FOX45 News has learned. At the time of the car thefts, the boy was 11 years old.
Julie, the woman injured in the Butchers Hill incident, said she was screaming for help, hoping someone would come outside. A neighbor did hear the screams; Arch McKown can be seen on the surveillance video running outside toward the suspects. Mckown said he spotted the boys near Julie’s car, which was parked on Patterson Park Avenue. The car is a stick shift, and the suspects did not steal the vehicle.
“I was just trying to keep an eye on which way they were going and telling the officer on the phone,” said McKown. “The patrol car came up behind me, and I just basically hopped out on the road and said that way, that way.”
The mom of the 14-year-old suspect seen on the surveillance video did speak with FOX45 News about her son. She didn’t show her face and shared only her first name: Shercese. She said her son does not listen to her, and his behavior has escalated since her husband, the boy’s stepfather, was killed two years ago.
“I worry, I wonder when am I going to get that next phone call, like what’s going to happen next,” she said.
Members of the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Baltimore City Democrat Del. Luke Clippinger, have met twice this fall to hear ideas and solutions from prosecutors, public defenders, law enforcement, and the Department of Juvenile Services. A third hearing has been scheduled for early December. So far, however, specific legislation has yet to be announced by Democrats – who control both chambers of the General Assembly.
“For people who violate the law – regardless of age – there needs to be accountability measures,” Gov. Wes Moore said when asked about juvenile crime in Maryland. “I think people understand how seriously we take this, and I think people understand that there’s nothing that we won’t contemplate, and there is nobody that we will not work with to make sure that we are keeping our communities safe.”
When questioned about the comments and timing of rolling out his crime plan, Gov. Moore said the public will see the details before the 2024 General Assembly session begins on Jan. 10, but he didn’t provide any further details.
“What people know is that we’ve been working with individuals across the aisle. We’re very clear on the issues with DJS that have been long-standing. We’re very clear when we came into office, we walked into a DJS that was understaffed and underfunded, and that’s why I appointed a reformer,” Moore said.
“We are working in partnership with both democratic and republican leaders to ensure that the basic principals that we addressed before – how do you increase accountability, how do make sure we are addressing the issue of illegal guns and how easy it is to gain access to illegal guns,” Moore continued. “And I also know the legislature is working on tweaks and reforms to laws that were passed before I was governor, and we want to see and anticipate seeing.”
The House Judiciary Committee hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5 at 1 p.m. in Annapolis.
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