Police ID Teen Carjacking Suspect With Long Criminal Record

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Baltimore teenager is behind bars after police say he went on a carjacking spree over the weekend.  Officials say the 15-year-old boy is part of an alarming trend.

So far, the number of carjackings is much higher than it was last year, and police say the perpetrators are only getting younger.

Police are not identifying him because he's only 15, but the crimes this teenage boy is accused of, are far from juvenile.

Police say the teen and a group of young men allegedly carjacked the first driver at gunpoint at around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, in Park Heights.

Later that morning, police say on Bancroft road, they carjacked a second car, returning to the same street hours later, to steal a third.

They allegedly carjacked a fourth car that evening, but police caught and arrested the 15 year old.

Neighbors tell WJZ, carjackings have been a problem here in the past. They suspect the area was chosen because there are so many cars out here in the open.

Leroy Nelson recalls seeing the group in the neighborhood.

"They don't live here. They come from somewhere else to molest the people in this area. So I find it really difficult."

Councilman Isaac "Yitzy" Schleifer, represents the district where the carjackings happened and alerted police.

He's calling for juvenile justice reform.

"This individual had an ankle bracelet which he cut off prior and didn't show up to his court case," says Councilman Schleifer.

Police say the teen committed crimes every month this year.

They also say, he's part of a troubling trend. In 2016, Baltimore City carjackings jumped 132% compared to 2015.

There have been more carjackings in 2017, by this same time last year. People ages 16 to 19 are behind many of these crimes.

In December, retired Councilwoman Rikki Spector was assaulted and robbed by teens who took her car.

That same month, a 13-year-old was shot while he and his friends tried to carjack a man at Carroll Park.

"It's the same group of people that are disproportionally responsible for a large part of our crime," says T.J. Smith, with Baltimore City Police.

So far three of the stolen cars have been recovered, but there's still one missing. No one was injured in any of the carjackings.

Police expect that there will be other arrests in connection to this carjacking spree. If you have any information, you are asked to call metro crime stoppers.

Follow @CBSBaltimore on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook