BALTIMORE — It started with smashed pumpkins. Sunday afternoon, a group of three teenagers were outside a couple's home on S. Ann Street.
When the woman went outside to confront them about the pumpkins, she says they began to harass her, eventually using a lighter to set her hair on fire, and trying to do the same to her shirt.
Her husband came outside to help and started recording them with his phone. He tells WMAR-2 News, "As I tried to re-enter the house, one of them followed me, demanding I delete the recording, and proceeded to push me to the ground from behind, and stole my phone from my pocket."
Neighbors' doorbell cameras captured the commotion as the man chased the boy down Regester St., who can be seen smashing the phone on the ground. The man then falls as he tries to pick it up.
"I mean it's super unsettling. For one, I can't believe it happened in the middle of the day," neighbor Bri Bond said. "It makes me so angry. I just don't understand why stuff like this can continue to happen. Obviously, they're not having enough repercussions to their actions."
Baltimore Police caught the teenagers not long after the assault. Only one of the three was charged. A source familiar with the investigation tells us he was sent home with an ankle monitor.
"Yeah that's the least shocking information I've heard out of this, which is so sad and that makes me even angrier," Bond said.
BPD tells WMAR-2 News: "All three suspects were apprehended, two 13-year-old males and a 14-year-old male. Two of the suspects were released to a guardian, while one of the 13-year-old suspects was arrested and charged with robbery. Only one of the three suspects were identified as the robber, which is the 13-year-old who was arrested and charged."
A woman who's lived in the neighborhood for 30 years says crime seems to come in waves. She changed her approach to crime after an incident about 10 years ago.
"I was held up in front of my house, two guys. I have a young child, so I do not open the door anymore. I don't try to help, I might call 911 if I hear the word 'help.' I have probably called quite a bit."
The incident comes as people in Southeast Baltimore have expressed frustration with how the Department of Juvenile Services handles young offenders. In this case, it was BPD's decision to release two of the suspects, but it would have been DJS' decision to send the child charged with robbery home with an ankle monitor.
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WMAR-2 News submitted a Public Information Act request to find out how often DJS detains a child when a police officer requests it. The percentage of children who were actually held by DJS when detention was requested by police, was around 41% in 2019. It dropped every year until 2022, when the percentage hit 24.5%. It's since been on the rise. From January to September of this year, 37% of the detention requests have been honored.
DJS points out that this data does not include youth who are charged as adults. The department also says "it should be noted that many more youth are being detained today than years ago."
A look into crime in Southeast Baltimore