Boy charged after failed robbery attempt using BB gun at Dulles Town Center Mall

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Boy charged after failed robbery attempt using BB gun at Dulles Town Center Mall

Joshua Barlow | [e-mail]
May 13, 2024, 5:38 AM

A male juvenile is facing three charges tied to a failed robbery attempt using a BB gun at Dulles Town Center Mall in Northern Virginia on Saturday, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff’s Office said that around 4:30 p.m. deputies were sent to the Foot Locker store at the mall for reports of a robbery and an injured employee. ... Deputies on the scene determined that the suspect was trying to flee the store with stolen merchandise, when he shot an employee who was trying to stop him in the arm and right hand with a Glock replica BB gun, according to a news release.

The wounded employee was later treated by paramedics, but declined transport to a hospital, the Sheriff’s Office said. The suspect left behind both the weapon and the allegedly stolen merchandise when he fled the area. ... The Sheriff’s Office said a temporary perimeter was established at the mall, which also forced the Dick’s Sporting Goods store to close for about 14 minutes, during the search for the suspect. The mall itself was not closed during that time.

The suspect was found around 5:13 p.m. near a car dealership on Russell Branch Parkway. ... Deputies said he suffered a minor injury above his eyebrow from his altercation with the Foot Locker employee. ... After being treated at a hospital, he was taken into custody on charges of petit larceny, brandishing a firearm and unlawful wounding, The Sheriff’s Office said. ... He is being held at a juvenile facility in Leesburg.

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Joshua Barlow
Joshua Barlow is a writer, composer, and producer who has worked for CGTN, Atlantic Public Media, and National Public Radio. He lives in Northeast Washington, D.C., where he pays attention to developments in his neighborhood, economic issues, and social justice.
[e-mail]

[marble falls]

1. No problem. They'll jail him and he'll learn how to obtain a firearm and do it right next time ...

... instead of spending the median $65,000 (prison) or $45,00 (county jail) a year to house them - how about spending a lot less than that to rehabilitate him and get him on track?

https://usafacts.org/articles/how-much-do-states-spend-on-prisons/

https://www.pewtrusts.org › en › research-and-analysis › issue-briefs › 2021 › 01 › local-spending-on-jails-tops-$25-billion-in-latest-nationwide-data
Local Spending on Jails Tops $25 Billion in Latest Nationwide Data
As of the end of 2017: Jail and other local corrections costs had risen sixfold since 1977, with jail costs reaching $25 billion. Almost 2 in 5 dollars spent on state and local correctional institutions went to jails. About 1 in 17 county dollars was spent on jails. The average annual cost of holding a person in jail was (Pew doesn't seem to want anyone using the link except from the search engine. The article exists, search: yearly cost of jailing an inmate.)

(this is about local jails, not even prisons.)

And for a kicker: get corporations out of the prison management business. They have no financial interest in crime reduction when they pay local authorities a bounty for each person they jail.

[comradebillyboy]

3. In my state armed robbery and aggravated assault are serious

crimes. I have little sympathy for violent criminals.

[marble falls]

4. I don't either. He's been charged appropriately - it was armed robbery whether it was a pointed finger or an AK-47 ...

... but the questions are:
1. are we just trying to lock him up or keep him from repeating or escalating his criminality by locking him up with older, more experianced criminals?

2. Did he use a BB gun because he did not want to hurt anyone? Or because he couldn't get a fire-arm?

3. What was his motivation - to emulate John Dillinger or to gain money for food or shelter?

4. Is he salvagable with or without incarceration? Can he be incarcerated in a lower security situation?

The difference between the hard law and justice is mercy. That we aren't herding criminals, but improving society. Taking everybody in chains has no mercy and does not improve society.

The system just turns criminals into more hardened criminals, turns the provably innocent into at best people with less opportunity to contribute to society or worse, into criminals.

[IronLionZion]

2. Everyone has lost their minds

Holding a BB gun that looks like a Glock can have deadly consequences. The police could have shot him dead. This is Virginia, plenty of people conceal carry or open carry and are looking for an excuse to shoot. Idiot.

[marble falls]

5. Good point. Cops shoot adolesents to death in snap decissions over what is obviously toys ...

... let alone repliguns.