8th Graders Accused Of Robbing Home, Leading Police On Chase
ACAMPO (CBS13) - Middle school kids were cuffed after a break-in and police chase. Police say they had no shame when they invaded an elderly couple's home while the couple was out.
As you might expect, by the looks of their work, these kids weren't the craftiest alleged crooks.
Ardyth and Bob have their stuff back; the TV, computer, and jewelry.
"All the drawers, everything was on the floor," said Ardyth.
The whole home was ransacked by kids.
"When you hear it's a group of kids maybe in the 8th grade, it hurts. It really hurts," said Ardyth. "I was worried about his mother."
Someone called cops to report the break-in. Blood stains show the burglars didn't make a clean getaway.
"But it didn't seem to stop him," said Ardyth.
Deputies, CHP, and Lodi police gave chase until they stopped the kid crew on the block of Locust Street and Garfield Street in what turned out to be mom's truck. Cops drew their guns, and then saw the alleged kid criminals give up.
"These were babies. When they pulled them out of the car I started crying," said Sharon Olvera, a witness. "I thought 'oh my goodness these are just babies.'"
Olvera watched from her front yard. She says two of the kids detained are twins in the 8th grade at the same school as her granddaughter.
"They didn't think twice about anything," said Olvera.
"You feel, maybe, somebody slapped you upside the face with a dead fish or something," said Ardyth.
It's a bungled break-in with unusual suspects: children who now face some serious charges.
"I feel so sorry for the parents," said Olvera. "The police call and say, 'hey, your son's in jail.'"
Ardyth and Bob have had a long day of clean-up.
The kids have been arrested and they'll be explaining their stories to the courts. The San Joaquin Sheriff's Department would not say how many suspects have been detained.
