12-year-old, teens accused in beating of Arlington officer ordered to remain in custody
Three young teens and a 12-year-old boy accused of beating and robbing an off-duty Arlington police officer were ordered on Thursday to remain in Tarrant County juvenile detention.
The judge in the hearing read a report that after the Wednesday morning assault when the teens were driving away, the Arlington officer had pulled out his handgun and pointed it at their car, but he decided not to shoot. The teens drove away from the scene.
The officer, who was treated at the scene, suffered minor facial and head injuries.
District Judge Alex Kim ruled that the two 14-year-old boys, a 14-year-old girl who just had a birthday this week, and the 12-year-old would remain with Tarrant County juvenile authorities until their next detention hearing in 10 days.
“Generally, when it comes to crimes and guns, I will detain kids,” Kim said as he spoke to the teens and 12-year-old during brief hearings Thursday. They appeared separately in 323rd District Court for virtual detention hearings, which were live-streamed over YouTube.
The four face charges of delinquent conduct/aggravated robbery in the Wednesday morning attack on the Arlington police officer.
They are not being identified because they are juveniles.
After she was ordered detained, the 14-year-old girl said, “I love you too, Mom,” while appearing on a Zoom call.
The teens were taken into custody at about 1 p.m. Wednesday during a traffic stop by police in Dallas, just hours after the assault and robbery of the officer in Arlington.
In the hearings Thursday, Kim read reports where the children were accused of stealing a white four-door sedan at about 3 a.m. Wednesday and allegedly committing other robberies.
No other injuries were reported in the robbery of the officer, which occurred just before 7:30 a.m. Wednesday outside a Quik Trip store at 900 E. Division St. in Arlington.
The officer was in his own personal car when he stopped at the store after he got off work, which was about 7 a.m. Wednesday, Arlington police Lt. Christopher Cook said in a telephone interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The off-duty officer had stopped to get gasoline. The officer’s police uniform shirt was hanging in the rear passenger seat and his duty belt was inside the vehicle.
The officer was armed with a second firearm as he began to pump gas into his car, Arlington police said.
The off-duty officer than saw a four-door passenger sedan drive into the parking lot and eventually stop at the gas pump next to where he was standing. Several other customers were in the parking lot.
He saw four young people in the car, and at some point, three of them exited the car and began to assault the officer. One suspect punched him in the face, and a second juvenile struck the officer with a handgun on top of his head, police said. The 12-year-old stayed in the car.
The suspects stole the officer’s wallet and personal cell phone.
In the Thursday hearings, there was no parent present for the 12-year-old and one 14-year-old boy, whose grandmother officials said did not have a car and didn’t know how to work Zoom calls.
The mother of the 14-year-old girl was at the Thursday hearing, and a father was there for another 14-year-old boy.
