WATCH: Children arrested in attempted carjackings in suburban California
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. (KRON) – Home surveillance video captured intense moments when children apparently tried to carjack a man outside of his home in a suburb 10 miles southeast of Oakland, California.
San Leandro police told NEWS10's sister station in California that the suspects approached the victim with a gun, but the victim stopped them when he body-slammed one of the suspects to the ground.
Police say these two suspects were later involved in another attempted carjacking that got four children, ages 11 to 14, arrested last week.
Mary Aima lives nearby, and said she noticed something suspicious when the suspects parked their car in the middle of the road. She says she then became terrified when they ran towards her neighbor with a gun, but probably the most shocking part was the age of these suspects.
“It was very scary. We were actually home at the time, so yeah it was scary. A lot of the neighbors were a little alarmed,” Aima said.
San Leandro police say just six hours before this incident, the same young suspects tried to rob a man at a Chase Bank ATM. They say the victim scared them off by claiming to be an off-duty officer. However, the suspects didn’t stop there.
Just a couple of days later on April 13, Oakland police arrested three juveniles accused of being involved in an attempted robbery using the same white getaway car. They were later released to their guardians only to be accused of committing yet another attempted carjacking in San Leandro on Friday.
San Leandro police responded and caught up with the suspects in Oakland. They arrested an 11-year-old, a 12-year-old, and two 14-year-olds.
Two of the same suspects are accused of also being involved in this incident and the Chase bank attempted robbery.
“It’s sad. It’s really sad to me what’s going on with the younger children doing things like this,” Aima said.
In all of these cases, the suspects were connected by multiple surveillance videos and using the same getaway car each time. Police say the cases have been referred to the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center for prosecution.