Police locate ‘armed and dangerous’ juvenile who escaped mental health facility with stolen car
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Colorado Springs police say they've located an "armed and dangerous" juvenile suspect with a history of violence who escaped a mental health facility on Sunday.
According to the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD), at around 4:24 p.m. on Dec. 21, officers were sent to the Emily Griffith Center, a mental health facility on Farragut Avenue near Memorial Park, after receiving a report of a motor vehicle theft in progress.
At the scene, CSPD said officers established probable cause that a prolific juvenile offender had "forcibly removed" a set of keys from a caretaker before running out of the facility and stealing the caretaker's car. CSPD says the caretaker did not receive any serious injuries during the incident.
CSPD said the juvenile suspect had previously been arrested for multiple motor vehicle thefts and violent crimes, including felony menacings and two instances where they pointed a handgun at police.
The department says the suspect was also arrested for attempted homicide after firing at a vehicle owner who confronted him and other juveniles about stealing his car.
Police say the juvenile is known to break into Kia and Hyundai vehicles to obtain handguns, and is "highly proficient in the methods and means of stealing these types of cars," citing an online trend of breaking into those car models called the "Kia Boyz Challenge."
Late Monday afternoon, police announced that they had located him. According to police, the stolen vehicle was found parked in a neighborhood in the 1600 block of South Circle Road. Police say he was entering stores in the area and was apprehended in a parking lot.
No description of the suspect was provided by police. CSPD cited Colorado Juvenile Law as the reason for not releasing a description.
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