A Maryland teen arrested for allegedly breaking into 121 cars in one night was released within hours of being taken into custody.
Officers from the Laurel Police Department arrested the 16-year-old boy late last week after receiving reports of the many break-ins on May 4 across three counties: Laurel, Prince George’s County and Howard County.
Surveillance footage shows three teens driving around in a stolen car while smashing the windows of numerous vehicles.
“They were just simply going through neighborhoods and targets of opportunity, breaking into cars,” Laurel Police Chief Russ Hamill told News4. “If there was something in there, they’d steal. If there was nothing in there, they’d move to another car.”
Police discovered nearly 20 car keys, credit cards and other stolen items at the teen’s home that “managed to link him to all 121 events throughout the region,” the police chief said.
“I would like to tell you that’s the end of the story there. But that’s not the end of the story,” Hamill added.
While police and the state attorney’s office requested that the boy remain in a juvenile detention center, the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) ordered his release because he did not have a previous criminal record and the break-ins were classed as a “lower level crime.”
“I would offer well over 100 cases in one night, gives you a pretty good record,” Hamill said. “These were not violent crimes, as if that lessens the impact on those 121 victims.”
“Yes, five hours after we were at his house, he was released back into the community, back into the environment that allowed him to be out roaming the streets in all of these counties, late at night and in the early morning, doing these crimes to begin with,” he added.
Hamill criticized the system as “broken.”
“I have little hope that there will be further accountability for him due to this broken system,” he said. “Due to this gap in concern for his safety, and the public’s safety.”
The police chief noted there were 17 car break-ins the next night, though he said he would stop short of laying every theft in the region on the teen and his group.
Meanwhile, the police say they have identified the boy’s alleged accomplices and they expect to make arrests in the case soon.