BROWNSVILLE, Fla. – The teenage boy who was wounded during a confrontation with a veteran sergeant has a criminal record that goes back several years and includes arrests in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
He was born in 2006 and by the time he was 11 years old, Miami Gardens police officers arrested him for attempted burglary of an occupied dwelling. Records show the court decided he was “mentally unable to stand trial.”
He had also been accused of dealing with stolen property when at 13 years old, North Miami police officers arrested him again for attempted burglary of an occupied dwelling. The teen was soon exposed to weapons.
At 14 years old, Broward County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested him for robbery. He was released and Miami-Dade police officers re-arrested him for failing to appear at a court hearing in the case. The deputies accused him of a “sudden snatching with firearm or weapon” and officers accused him of unlawful firearm possession by a minor.
On Sunday, the 15-year-old boy wasn’t supposed to be driving and he was too young to be armed. He was driving away from police officers and refusing to stop when he crashed a black Dodge Challenger at Northwest 56th Street and Northwest 22nd Avenue, police said.
Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department, said the teenager had a pick-up order for firearm possession and occupied burglary when he jumped out of the crashed car and took off running.
“A confrontation ensued between the sergeant and the subject, who was armed, and the sergeant discharged his firearm,” Zabaleta wrote in a statement, adding the sergeant was not injured.
Officers seized three weapons: The gun the teen had on him, and an assault rifle and a gun that were inside the Dodge Challenger he was driving, according to Zabaleta.
The remaining occupants who fled from the crashed car remain at large and the veteran sergeant was not injured, according to Zabaleta. The teenage boy’s condition was critical and he remained at JMH on Monday afternoon.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the police-involved shooting. Detectives are asking anyone with information about the cases to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 1-866-471-8477 to submit anonymous tips.
6 p.m. report
Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Aura Martinez contributed to this report.