PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Three young people were taken into custody in connection with a string of armed robberies in Philadelphia, including one at the 30th Street Station. It’s one of several high-profile crimes within the last few days involving juvenile offenders.
Eyewitness News spoke to District Attorney Larry Krasner about what appears to be a troubling trend, and he says he’s very concerned about crimes committed by juvenile offenders.
It was a busy weekend for Philadelphia police investigating multiple crimes by juvenile offenders, and the district attorney is concerned.
“What we need to do with juveniles is we need to take serious crime very seriously,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said.
On Saturday, there were three robberies at gunpoint in the areas of 15th Street/City Hall Stations in Center City and the 30th Street Station in University City.
Police arrested one juvenile for armed robbery and took two others into custody.
“It is now and always has been a very, very high priority that we deal with any situation involving a juvenile and gun violence in a way that is appropriate and safe for the community,” Krasner said.
On Sunday, 10 juveniles were taken into custody in connection with multiple transit incidents, including a man who was assaulted at the 8th Street Station and a woman who was assaulted at the 11th Street Station.
SEPTA says the woman was either pushed or fell onto the tracks.
Two of the juveniles detained will face criminal charges.
“There are many, many, many juveniles who are best addressed in the juvenile system,” Krasner said, “but there are other juveniles for whom that’s just not going to work for a variety of other reasons. In those instances, they need to be addressed in the adult court system.”
Eyewitness News asked Philadelphia police if juvenile crime is up. They say in some areas, it is.
There were 44 juvenile carjacking arrests in 2019, 57 in 2020, and 79 in 2021.
Juvenile homicide arrests are up too. There were 10 in 2019, 11 in 2020, and 26 in 2021.
As for juvenile aggravated assault, arrests are down from 369 in 2019 to 193 last year.
*story by CBS Philly
