El Paso police arrest two boys, age 14, in gunpoint store robberies, carjacking

Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times
·3 min read
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El Paso police arrested two 14-year-old boys accused of using a handgun in an overnight carjacking and armed robbery spree early Monday morning across the city, officials said.

The teens are accused in five convenience stores robberies as well as allegedly carjacking a 59-year-old man who was fueling up his car at a gas station in the far East Side, police said.

The five-hour crime spree struck in the Lower Valley, the West Side and the Upper Valley before returning to the far East Side where police put an end to it.

"Shortly after the carjacking, officers were able to locate the stolen car and detain the juveniles. Great spot by the officers," Sgt. Javier Sambrano, a police spokesman, said.

Previously:Crime spree ends with arrest of El Paso teens with gun inside bar in Five Points

According to a Police Department news summary, the robbery rash was:

Lower Valley

  • 12:54 a.m. – Circle K, 513 Lomaland Drive by North Loop Drive. The teens use a gun to threaten the clerk and demand money from the cash register before leaving with cash and tobacco products.

  • 1:20 a.m. – Circle K, 8130 Alameda Ave. by Yarbrough Drive. The boys again threaten a clerk with a gun and rob the register.

West Side

  • 2:18 a.m. – Circle K, 650 N. Resler Drive by Belvidere Street. The boys take money from two cash registers and personally rob the clerk, looking through his pockets and taking his wallet.

Upper Valley

  • 3:57 a.m. – Circle K, 5600 Doniphan Drive by Redd Road. One boy brandishes a gun while the other has a knife as they grab money from the cash registers, steal two vapes and also take the clerk's personal AirPods

El Paso police car at a crime scene. File art.
El Paso police car at a crime scene. File art.

Far East Side

  • 5:29 a.m. ‒ Murphy USA gas station, 11701 Pebble Hills Blvd. by Saul Kleinfeld Drive. The boys rob the cash register and leave on foot. Moments later, they carjack a man's 2008 Nissan Versa at gunpoint across the street at the gas pumps at the Circle K at 11985 Pebble Hills Blvd.

  • 5:47 a.m. ‒ Police officers spot the stolen car, stop it and take the boys into custody without incident about two miles away in the 3300 block of Trawood Drive.

Violent crime:El Paso police arrest 2 after man stabbed outside strip club

The boys, who are both residents of the East Side, face six counts of aggravated robbery. They have been handed to the custody of the Juvenile Probation Department. The boys' names were not disclosed because they are juveniles.

The city of El Paso and the unincorporated areas of El Paso County have a juvenile curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily for children 16 and younger. The city curfew dates back to 1991.

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Anyone with information on the robberies, illegal guns and other criminal activity may anonymously call Crime Stoppers of El Paso at 915-566-8477 (TIPS) or leave a tip online at crimestoppersofelpaso.org.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Two boys, 14, arrested in El Paso robbery, carjacking crime spree