The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘Teens Arrested’

Posted on | December 31, 2023 | Comments Off on ‘Teens Arrested’

After reading a story about a recent murder, the idea occurred to me, why not just Google “teens arrested”? One of the first news stories I saw was the case from Charlotte, North Carolina, where five teens in a stolen Dodge Charger led police on a high-speed pursuit Thursday afternoon. The youthful miscreants were ages 14-16:

Police said they are serial offenders and had racked up at least 84 charges between them before Thursday’s arrest. Several of the teens were linked to multiple vehicle break-ins, police said.

A stolen firearm was found in the vehicle. Anyway, I continued my Google search and here is a sampling of recent headlines:

Four teens arrested in connection
to the murder of a 17-year-old in November
— KNXV-TV, Phoenix, Dec. 20

3 teens arrested
in string of armed robberies
across San Diego County
— KNSD-TV, San Diego, Dec. 18

Two teens arrested after fight breaks out
at Southern Park Mall
— WFMJ-TV, Youngstown, Ohio, Dec. 27

10 teens arrested in 2 carjacking rings
— WRC-TV, Washington, D.C., Dec. 11

5 teens charged in violent beating
at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
— CBS News, Dec. 19

Four arrested, including three teens,
for carjacking in Baltimore County
— WBAL-TV, Baltimore, Dec. 5

3 teens arrested after assaulting,
carjacking 72-year-old woman
in Bethesda: police
— WTTG-TV, Washington, D.C., Dec. 13

5 teens arrested after crashing
stolen vehicle into patrol cars
at downtown apartment parking garage
— KSAT-TV, San Antonio, Texas, Dec. 19

Four teens arrested after Little Rock
traffic stop leads to seizure
of six guns, 42 grams of marijuana
— KARK-TV, Little Rock, Arkansas, Dec. 22

Metro police: 3 teens caught
with 2 stolen cars, 6 guns, 19 key fobs
— WKRN-TV, Nashville, Dec. 28

So much high-spirited adolescent hijinks! So many mischievous young scamps! Stealing cars, stealing guns, shootings, beatings, armed robberies — typical fun for American teens! With few exceptions, the news media never identify these fun-loving youngsters by name, but when they do . . . Well, it’s ain’t Amish kids, OK? Consider this recent report about some Florida teens celebrating the festive holiday season:

Two brothers, 14 and 15, face murder charges after an argument over who was getting more presents led to a shooting that killed their sister — a mother of two — on Christmas Eve.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said the “family spat” began Sunday during a shopping trip in Largo. When the family returned to the home of the boys’ grandmother in the 2300 block of 22nd Avenue Southwest, the teens were still arguing.
Standing in the kitchen, Damarcus Coley, 14, pulled out a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun and aimed it at his brother, 15-year-old Darcus Coley, threatening to shoot him in the head, Gualtieri said.
The teens’ uncle separated the boys, telling Damarcus to step outside. Gualtieri said a neighbor’s outdoor camera captured audio of their sister, Abrielle Baldwin, 23, as she tried to intervene.
“You all need to leave that stuff alone. Why are you trying to start it? It’s Christmas,” Baldwin told her younger brother, Gualtieri said.
At about 1:45 p.m., Damarcus yelled threats at Baldwin and then shot her in the chest, Gualtieri said. The round went through her left arm before puncturing her lungs. At the time, Baldwin was holding her 10-month-old baby, who was not injured, Gualtieri said.
After hearing the gunshot, Darcus ran outside, screaming about how Damarcus had shot their sister.
Eight seconds after the fatal shot rang out, Darcus fired a round at his brother with his own .45 caliber pistol, Gualtieri said. The 15-year-old threw his gun in a neighbor’s yard and ran to a relative’s home in Clearwater, where deputies later arrested him, Gualtieri said. Darcus made statements about self-harm and was taken to a mental health facility.
Baldwin was taken to Largo Medical Center, where she died. She was also the mother of a 6-year-old boy.
Damarcus was taken to a hospital where he underwent surgery. Gualtieri said later will be moved to a juvenile detention center.
“This is what happens when you’ve got young delinquents and they carry guns,” Gualtieri told reporters. “They get upset, they don’t know how to handle stuff, so they just pick up their guns and start shooting each other.”
Damarcus Coley is charged with first-degree murder, child abuse and being a minor in possession of a firearm.
Darcus Coley is charged with attempted first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence. . . .
Family members told investigators the two boys routinely carried guns. . . .
Damarcus’ arrest history dates back to when he was 12. He previously has been charged with vehicle theft, battery on a school employee and battery on a law enforcement officer, Gualtieri said. He said both brothers were arrested in May for multiple car burglaries and both have previous juvenile charges for being a minor in possession of a firearm.
Gualtieri said he believes both guns used in Sunday’s shooting were likely stolen from unlocked cars.

This case has been widely commented upon, but as I watched the video of Sheriff Gualtieri’s press conference, I noticed something that nobody else in the media seemed to notice. He stated that the victim, Abrielle Baldwin, was born May 5, 2000. He further noted that the mother of the victim (who is also the mother of the Coley brothers) was born June 25, 1984. Apparently nobody else bothered to do the basic arithmetic here: Abrielle was born when her mother was only 15 years old and, given that Abrielle’s oldest child is 6 years old, this means that she became a mother at age 17. Abrielle’s mother became a grandmother when she was no older than 33. Am I the only one who perceives this as relevant?

Also, notice that Abrielle and the Coley brothers have different surnames, indicating they were sired by different baby-daddies, none of whom are named as attendees at the festive family holiday gathering. Teenage mothers and absentee fathers would seem to be normative in this community. Also: “Family members told investigators the two boys routinely carried guns.” Routinely! If your 14-year-old was “routinely” carrying a pistol, wouldn’t this be a cause of parental concern? One kid’s got a .40-cal, the other’s packing a .45, both guns were likely stolen during the multiple burglaries perpetrated by the Coley brothers, but nobody in the family did anything about it until, of course, the festive holiday was celebrated with gunfire. Youthful hijinks!

Speaking of the Idiot-in-Chief:

Biden’s Crime Problem: Violent Crime
Is Down, but Voters Don’t Believe It

Yes, this year, many police agencies will report a record decrease in crime, made possible because crime was so completely out of control after the 2020 George Floyd riots, with many cities setting homicide records in 2021 and 2022. But a decline from a historic peak does not return America to the level of public safety the nation had before the summer of “fiery but mostly peaceful protests.” Furthermore, one reason for the reduction in crime is that law-abiding citizens just got the hell out of Democrat-controlled cities, and learned to avoid areas where teenage criminals — excuse me, I mean, urban youth — pose a constant threat to life and property. If you’ve sold your city home and moved to the countryside — hunkered down in a rural bunker, protected by guard dogs and video surveillance — you probably don’t feel a lot of gratitude to President Biden for your circumstances. You damned deplorable!



 

Category: Crime

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