Recent teen crime in Colorado Springs raises questions

Some Colorado Springs community members said recent teen crime in Colorado Springs is a reflection of growing crime among adolescents in the area.

Police said on Monday a 13-year-old and 14-year-old burglarized a home and crashed two stolen cars.

“There is no certain age where a kid can commit an act of violence, it can be anywhere from bullying to doing some major crimes like we’ve had planned armed robberies. We’ve had much younger children do some acts of violence that are very disturbing,” said Natasha Sansoni with safe2tell.

Safe2tell is a nonprofit group that offers kids a chance to report threatening behavior or activities safely and anonymously.

Sgt Roger Vargason with the Sand Creek division of the Colorado Springs Police Department said he’s noticed an increase in juvenile crime recently, citing two juveniles that were in a stolen vehicle. He also said juveniles are stealing more than just electronics during thefts – they’re stealing guns.

He said the 14-year-old in Monday’s burglary had a 22 revolver in a backpack and police found ammunition in a shed where the juvenile was trying to hide from police.

“We had a burglary the other day where they stole a hand gun and a shot gun so again they are stealing these weapons,” said Vargason.

Safe2Tell received 7,071 tip reports since 2004. It’s statistics show 282 of those reports were related to guns and weapons.

“Anything can really be a weapon, and I think we have seen quite a few of those even in the past year of youth with weapons,” said Sansoni.

Sansoni said thanks to safe2tell more kids are coming forward to report crimes without fear of getting in trouble. It’s hotline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 877-542-SAFE.