The 13 teenagers who were arrested Nov. 13 for armed carjackings and auto thefts were all MCPS students, Montgomery County Police told MoCo360 on Tuesday.
Police tracked down two vehicles after determining they were stolen in armed carjackings. One vehicle, containing Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School students, crashed after being in a pursuit with police. A little later, another vehicle was found by police near B-CC, and after several suspects fled, the school went on a lockdown while officers searched for them.
County police sent out a press release on Nov. 15 about the incidents.
On Nov. 13, around 12:29 p.m., police identified two cars, a Nissan Sentra and a Honda Accord, that were stolen in armed carjackings in the area of Georgia and Wayne avenues in downtown Silver Spring, according to a police press release.
A county police officer first saw the Nissan at a Bank of America on Georgia Avenue and received an alert from a license plate reader that the vehicle was stolen in an armed carjacking on Nov. 7 in Wheaton, stated charging documents. According to those documents, the car was taken from the victim at gun and knife point by five males.
The vehicle was then involved in an armed carjacking of a Honda Pilot on Nov. 8 in Rockville and an armed robbery on Nov. 11 in Howard County, charging documents indicated.
Upon following the Nissan, the officer saw a Honda Accord drive up next to it. The officer discovered that the Honda was stolen in an armed carjacking that day in Prince George’s County, the charging documents indicated.
The Nissan and Honda went in separate directions and the officer attempted to pull over the Nissan. After a brief pursuit, and the car crashed into a tree at Dennis and Douglas avenues, which is about three miles from the location where the car was first found, according to police.
The five occupants of the Nissan were taken into custody, which included three 15-year-olds, one 16-year-old boy and the driver, Samuel Fikru, 18, of Silver Spring, according to police. All of them are students at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (B-CC), according to charging documents.
Police said they recovered two BB guns and a knife from the vehicle.
Fikru has been charged with armed carjacking and motor vehicle theft-related charges and is being held without bond at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit, according to digital court records. His attorney, Daniel Mahone, declined to comment on this case.
During an interview with police, Fikru claimed that he purchased the Nissan for $800 cash the day before, but he could not say who or where he purchased it from, according to charging documents.
The juveniles in the Nissan face auto theft-related charges, obstructing and hindering and malicious destruction of property, police said.
At 2:13 p.m. that day, an officer said over the police radio that they found the Honda at Kentbury Drive and Chelton Road in Bethesda. Those streets are adjacent to the high school. About a minute later, an officer on the scene said over the radio that the occupants of the vehicle had fled in the direction of East-West Highway.
An unknown number of suspects got out of the car and fled, and a 15-year-old girl was arrested at 4311 Montgomery Ave., about a block from the high school, according to police. She was released to her parents after the incident without being charged, police said.
An officer said that the occupants of the cars were potentially B-CC students, according to radio communications. After the arrest, an officer asked over the radio if the female arrested was a student of B-CC. One officer responded, “We’re not going to put that out over the air.”
The incident caused B-CC to call for a brief lockdown at the school as officers tried to locate the other suspects, police said.
Stolen vehicle found near Paint Branch High School
Then, in a separate incident that same day, an off-duty Baltimore County Police officer called 911 to report a Kia Sedona with a broken window near Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, police said.
That car was reported stolen earlier that day, and Montgomery County Police said they eventually found the occupants of the vehicle, three 16-year-olds, a 17-year-old and a 14-year-old, in the Calverton neighborhood of Silver Spring.
During an attempted traffic stop, the Kia collided with another car and then stopped on Cherry Hill Road, police said. The suspects fled on foot, and two of them were arrested on the scene, according to police.
The other three suspects entered a gray Infiniti with a 15-year-old and 16-year-old, police said. Moments later, the Infiniti returned to the scene, and the five occupants got out of the vehicle to watch the two suspects, who were caught, get taken into custody, according to police.
Police said that they recognized three of the people who returned to the scene as the original suspects from the Kia, and they arrested all five teenagers from the Infiniti.
The teenagers in the Kia have been charged with motor vehicle unlawful taking and related offenses, while the 15- and 16-year-olds in the Infiniti face charges of conspiracy to commit motor vehicle theft, obstructing and hindering and other conspiracy-related charges, according to police.
All the juvenile suspects were transported to county police district stations and then released to their parents. None of their identities have been released.
School responses
After the arrests of the 13 students and the Nov. 13 school lockdown, B-CC Principal Shelton Mooney issued a letter to the school community on Nov. 17. In the letter, Mooney repeatedly said he was unable to answer specific questions about the students and incident “to maintain student privacy and due process rights.”
Mooney wrote that after the lockdown, Montgomery County Police shared with him that there was no connection between the apprehended suspects in the Honda and B-CC.
“I specifically asked if they were current or former B-CC students and I was definitively told there was no connection between the suspects in that incident and our school,” he wrote.
Mooney said that he was also aware of the incident with the Nissan where five teens, identified as B-CC students, were arrested off-campus following a police pursuit and car crash at 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 13. He added that he has received many inquiries about whether the students involved in the police pursuit have returned to school following their arrests but is unable to answer those questions to maintain student privacy.
However, the B-CC principal did share the steps the school takes to ensure the safety of students and staff when students have been charged with “reportable [offenses].”
Mooney wrote: “Discussions related to student placement and safety include school staff (administration and security), MCPS safety and security personnel, leaders from the Office of School Support and Well-Being, and representatives from the Office of General Counsel. In these discussions, we must balance the educational rights and needs of the individual student charged with a reportable offense alongside the overall safety of the students and staff. These discussions result in actions including but not limited to individual student educational plans, the development of specific safety plans, and monitoring procedures that are shared with school personnel on a need-to-know basis.”
The B-CC High School PTSA did not respond to MoCo360’s request for comment.
Paint Branch High School acting principal Pamela W. Krawczel also did not respond to MoCo360’s request for comment via email.
MCPS spokesperson Chris Cram shared principal Mooney’s letter and wrote in an email that it outlines “what we know at this time.” His email did not include a statement from the school system on the arrests of the 13 students.
Cram did share that the MCPS, county and municipal police departments and the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office have a “Memorandum of Understanding,” which outlines the responsibility of police for criminal activity and the responsibility of MCPS for disciplinary matters.
In the document, it stated all parties agree: “The vast majority of student misconduct is best addressed through classroom and in-school strategies that maintain a positive learning environment and allow students to learn from their mistakes, correct any harm that results from their behavior, and restore relationships disrupted by their conduct.”
For serious incidents not on school property, police are required to notify MCPS of “reportable offenses” committed by students in the community. After schools are notified, Cram said that disciplinary actions for students are governed by the Student Code of Conduct.
The Code of Conduct states that students involved in theft can face varying levels of disciplinary action at school, the most serious being in-school or short-term suspension.
It is unknown at this time whether the students face disciplinary action from their respective schools.
