WOODBURY, Minn. — Dramatic new video from the Minnesota Department of Transportation shows two people jumping out of a car near I-94 and 494.
Woodbury Police say they stole a Cadillac that then broke down on the ramp. Officers had been chasing them, but at this point in the video, police say they had already called the chase off.
You can then see the suspects run away - one into a swamp, another towards the interstate.
The two suspects are both just 13-years-old, not even old enough for their learner's permit.
"We see the ages of these individuals get younger and younger," said Robbinsdale Bishop Harding Smith. "We as a community, we are not setting an example."
Smith is not mincing words about what's driving teens to carry out crimes like these, a trend happening across the country.
"That's a person that needs direction," said Smith. "That's a person where there's no safety vial, there's not a father at home and basically they're looking to their peers."
Smith runs a group that patrols violent hot spots called MN Acts Now and is part of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman's project to reduce crime called MN Heals 2.0, which stands for Minnesota Hope, Education and Law and Safety.
It's another go-around for the partnership between police and probation officers, safety centers, youth jobs programs, community and business leaders.
In 1997, during Freeman’s second term as county attorney, MN HEALS was a multi-sector effort to reduce violent crimes in the community. MN HEALS organized all the 16 criminal justice jurisdictions that served the Phillips neighborhood. As a result, violent crime declined by 62% in ten years, and murder fell in Minneapolis’ Third Precinct from 26 in 1995 to five in 2002, according to a new release from Freeman's office.
"We want to reform our children, we want to make sure they're started on the right path and part of that is getting them to understand they are accountable for their actions," said Smith. "We need to let them know about crime and punishment."
Freeman is also assigning two special prosecutors to car jackings, another crime he says is skyrocketing. As of last month, of the 138 cases referred to his office, 94 were juveniles.
"We need help and we need to work together," said Smith.
As for the teens in the latest video, Woodbury PD says that one was released and they are lobbying for the other one, who has a history of car thefts, to be detained.
A year ago, Freeman's office said people arrested for car thefts no longer had to post bail.
Considered controversial by some city leaders, his office reiterated Monday that the policy was for first-time offenders only, adding that it requests significant bail every time a gun is used in a carjacking, sending KARE 11 this statement:
"We would like to get all of the carjacking criminals off the street. In adult cases, our prosecutors routinely request that judges set significant bail in the hopes of keeping these dangerous perpetrators out of the community until their case is resolved. In juvenile cases, our attorneys routinely ask that serious offenders be held in custody and where appropriate also certified to stand trial as adults."
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