South Florida Lawyer Blog
Two 13-year-old boys have been arrested in Miami after authorities say they tried to carjack a teacher outside a school and crashed just moments later.
The boys were arrested Monday and charged them with armed carjacking.
Police allege one of the boys brandished a handgun at the 59-year-old teacher as she was entering her car last week outside the elementary school. A surveillance video allegedly shows the woman running off as both boys hop in and tries to drive away.
The video apparently shows the boys have trouble backing out, as if the parking brake was still engaged. While leaving the parking lot, police say the car crashed into a curb, and the boys fled on foot.
Carjacking is the crime of stealing another person’s vehicle with a gun, knife, or other type of weapon. Due to the fact that carjacking involves the use of threats or violence to hijack another person’s car while they’re still in the vehicle, it is considered a violent crime. Like all violent crimes, carjacking is vigorously prosecuted by both law enforcement officials and the State.
If you are convicted of carjacking, you will face a number of serious penalties, such as time behind bars, large fines, restitution to the victim, probation, and a strike on your record. It is unclear whether the teens involved in this alleged crime will be charged as juveniles or adults. Due to the serious nature of the charges, the court could rule either way.