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Police report arresting Jamaica Plain 14-year-old for robbery - for the fourth time in four months

Boston Police report arresting a 14-year-old on Friday for robbing a 13-year-old of his bicycle on Centre Street in front of the Jackson Square Stop & Shop on Tuesday after officers spotted him riding the distinctive red-and-black bike a few blocks away on Mozart Street at Chestnut Avenue.

Police said the tyro terror was already awaiting court action for several other robberies in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury over the past few months, in which he either brandished a knife, claimed he had a gun or, in one case, smashed a victim in the back of the head:

Jan. 19, 9:15 a.m., 34 Marcella St., Roxbury. Waving a knife, the teen was one of four who followed somebody from an ATM in Jackson Square and robbed him, police say. He was arrested in February on charges of armed robbery, unarmed robbery, assault and battery and trespassing, police say.

Jan. 20, 5:42 p.m., 3 Sunnyside St., Jamaica Plain. Several teens followed a man walking home from the Jackson Square T stop, then smacked him in the back of the head, police say. Officers who swarmed the area found four of them hanging out inside Cappy's Pizza on Centre Street. He was charged with unarmed robbery and assault and battery.

March 27, 6:32 p.m. 124 Minden St., Jamaica Plain. Two young teens walked up to two men and demanded their wallets, police say. The 14-year-old motioned as if he had a gun in his hoodie. The men walked away and the teen threatened to shoot up their houses. Police found the two a couple blocks away on Walden Street and charged the 14-year-old with intent to rob while armed.

April 7, 4:50 p.m. The teen stole the 13-year-old's bike on Centre Street. Police say that after the teen was arrested, they returned the bike to the younger boy's mother.

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Comments

This kind of serious and and serial behavior is why I think these individuals should be named, if they are teenagers. I'd definitely want to know if this "kid" was a neighbor of mine.

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I get why this seems like a good idea in the short term, but this kid is going to grow up and it isn't going to be of any help to anyone if a bunch of terrible decisions he made as a 14 year old follows him for the rest of his life.

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They will follow him for the rest of his life, you can't make your history disappear. The question is, will his past define his future.

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Continual slaps on the wrist & hiding his identity will encourage the behavior. He'll feel like hey, I can just keep doing this shit & get away with it.

Let him suffer some sort of consequences and hopefully he will reform now before it's too late.

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If there's one thing you can say for 14-year-olds, it's that they're known for their lack of long-term planning and decision-making. Hell, there's even scientific evidence that their brains aren't developed enough to properly make decisions based on that information. Which is why we don't treat them like adults, and we shouldn't, even in this (extremely sad) case.

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your point about brain development. But would your response be the same if this kid ran up on you or your family member? "Oh, this kid just robbed & beat my daughter, but he's only 14 and is a repeat offender. But let's just let him free with no consequences and nobody knowing who to know to avoid if we see him." Sounds like a spectacular plan.

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First of all, I think this kid actually did try to jump me in front of my house (I basically told him and his friend to fuck off and yelled and they ran away), and I can safely say it doesn't change my opinion here, which is not based on my personal feelings for the kid but on my understanding of what tends to happen to these kids after they acquire a criminal record.

Second, _absolutely no one_ in this discussion is advocating doing nothing. I too find it a little perplexing that he has been released back onto the street after so many repeat offenses.

Third, it's very unlikely that there will be "no consequences" for this kid. It's just that he isn't being held in prison while he awaits arraignment. The consequences will come, they just haven't yet.

And last, I just cannot figure how it would do be the slightlest bit of good, as a pedestrian in Jackson Square, to know this kid's name. If he's going to shoot someone, knowing his name isn't going to stop that from happening. It will probably prevent him from getting a job later on, however, which will almost certainly make him more likely to pursue a life of crime. Who benefits from that?

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Well put. Often times if you aren't on the side of simply "locking them up" and "throwing away the key" it's perceived as if we're saying just let them run rampant and commit more crimes. That's not my stance at all.

Someone mentioned a scene from the Wire and how the well intended academics had to learn how early theses kids become hardened.This was spot on. Early intervention is key in my opinion, for the kids and their families.

I haven't read any comments about "where are his parents" so I'll ask...Where are his parents?? Do they know how much of a menace their kid has been in the last couple months?

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I don't think this kid is going to stop making terrible decisions when he turns 18.

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He’s going to be allowed to progress as a violent criminal for 4 years while not being held accountable. When he turns 18 he’ll commit a serious act and be let off because it his “fist offense” eventually Killing another human.

Enough with the participation trophy style criminal justice.

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Saddling him with a permanent criminal record now all but guarantees that he won’t.

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I'm not advocating that he be named now, just pointing out that the odds of someone this involved in the criminal justice system at 14 is not very likely to be avoiding it in a few years. It's like the scene in The Wire with the university folks who wanted to intervene with at risk youth and were targeting high school kids. The cops had to show them how hardened they could be at that age so they needed to set their sights a few years earlier.

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I’ll grant you that the odds are against him growing up to be an upstanding citizen at this point, but saddling him with a life long criminal record and several years of jail time doesn’t exactly have a great track record at improving those odds. In fact it tends to make things markedly worse. Sure, kids like him tend to stop committing crimes while they’re *in* jail, but when they do get out (which is definitely going to happen eventually unless he kills someone), they tend to be much worse than when they went in.

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He is the suspect in several violent crimes. He has had his chance for “the diversion program “ and he has not followed the guidelines. Some juveniles need to be treated differently because they don’t learn from their “mistakes” and continue to jeopardize the safety of all citizens. You should think about the victims in these crimes not only the Juvenile suspects. I am sure he was involved in Several more incidents not only the ones in which he was arrested.

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he grows up.

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I'd bet neighborhood kids already know
who the 14yr. old is. Glad the 13yr. old got his bike back.

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Welcome to earth, I hope you enjoy your stay as you become acquainted with our customs.

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that beat up some guy in his forties with his friends at The Frogmore. Guy said he recognized them from him stopping them from robbing someone else.

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Sounds like whomever his adult caretaker is has zero control and it’s time for reform schooling or this kid will cost us all as a future jailed life wrecker.

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I am pretty sure this is the same kid who is one of the leaders of the kids involved in attacking people walking and biking along the southwest corridor last year.

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One on both of his ankles might slow this kid down?

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Too early to write him off.

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Alright, when? 14 is an age to know right from wrong.

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...but it seems that behaviors learned at an impressionable age like 14 are far more ingrained than behaviors learned (or attempted to be learned) later in life.

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These are not juvenile pranks. Bashing someone in the back of the head on a street in daylight? Please understand these are only a listing of the arrests. How many crimes has this young person committed that are unreported? His luck can't be that poor.

How will you feel when a threatening person comes into your grill demanding your wallet, keys and phone? Then he makes it appear he is brandishing a weapon. Are you fine with that? Do you still want to blame "society" for letting him down and you just happen to be the donation vehicle to his life of crime that day?

What seems possible is we will read about this young person's murder in a couple of years on UHub and we will say the same things about how society is failing. Guns are the problem and poverty is the issue to solve.

Yes, this is the merry-go-round of urban life. You know what...some people are just bad. Some people cannot be socialized. Some troubled young men will find religion, a good woman or employment that will change their direction. But there are always going to be some that will end up with a bullet or a knife in them as they leave this world way too young just because that is who they want to be. And none of us can change that. And that is the truly disturbing thing that should keep us up at night. We can't fix that.

I'm not sure that is this person. I'm not his judge. Only he can let us know. In how he lives. Hopefully.

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It’s only 4 offenses in 4 months.... he has plenty of time to pad those numbers. If there was no lockdown, imagine what he could do!

I’m betting on this kid for great things....

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Both in failing to protect victims after the first and second robberies, and in failing to rehabilitate/redirect this kid into a better life path.

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Failure of his parents most certainly. Nothing that the justice system can do for this kid will work unless he has family that will support his rehabilitation and redirection.

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although in a lot of cases you can then point at society for messing things up for the family, etc. Once you start looking for causes, it gets really depressing really fast.

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