Police: This car thief is different, he – s flashy – and he – s ten – News – Daytona Beach News-Journal Online – Daytona Beach, FL
Police: This car thief is different, ‘he’s flashy’ and he’s Ten
Tony Holt @TonyCrimeWriter
DAYTONA BEACH – A car thief was arrested for a fourth time in six weeks, the latest coming after he cut off his ankle monitor and got into another stolen car. Police call him flashy, with a lot of attitude. Plus there’s this: He’s the age of a fourth-grader.
Juveniles stealing cars isn’t unusual in Daytona Beach, but arresting someone as youthfull as ten for numerous thefts is almost unheard of, Daytona Beach police said Thursday.
When the youthful offender was caught Wednesday after removing his ankle monitor, he was with older boys, ages 15-16 years old, said Capt. Jennifer Krosschell. Teenagers don’t usually string up out with kids youthful enough to be in the fourth grade, but they keep letting him participate in their criminal activities, she said.
“He even looks like a 10-year-old,” Krosschell said. “When we (seized) the car he had stolen, the driver’s seat was shoved up to the steering wheel.”
The News-Journal isn’t publishing the name of the Daytona Beach boy because of his age. Efforts to reach his parents Thursday were unsuccessful.
Sgt. Tim Ehrenkaufer has investigated the child since his very first arrest and has noticed a brashness that isn’t common among 10-year-old boys.
“He has a look-at-me attitude,” Ehrenkaufer said. “He’s flashy.”
The very first time he was arrested was in June, when he stole a car and parked it in the lot outside Target, two thousand three hundred eighty W. International Speedway Blvd. Police discovered the car through movie surveillance and arrested the suspect while he was still in the store, Krosschell said.
He’s been linked to two other car thefts since then, including one from the lot at Azza Motors on Mason Avenue. He was one of at least six youthfull suspects who stole vehicles from that location, according to police. Detectives said they discovered another seven sets of car keys stolen from that same business.
“The vehicles were taken all over the city,” Krosschell said. “We looked at movie surveillance and found out where they were stolen from and where they were dumped off.
“I think this is becoming a trend,” she continued. “We eyed other (juveniles) on the movie that we haven’t been able to identify and they show up just as youthfull.”
The 10-year-old suspect was arrested Tuesday for the Azza Motors car theft and an ankle monitor was placed on him, according to police. Not more than six hours later, he had cut off the ankle monitor and again got mixed up with some fellow juvenile car thieves, Ehrenkaufer said.
