Two 11-year-olds who were briefly held by a Maryland sheriff’s office on Tuesday for breaking into multiple cars were set free without any charges.
The Harford County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation that the twins had been detained before being released to their mother due to their age. The two told sheriff’s deputies they wanted to take a car to “drive around” and had previously been caught breaking into cars as nine-year-olds, Shore News reported.
“We had two 11-year-old brothers out attempting to steal a car,” HCSO Maj. Lee Dunbar told CBS Baltimore. “Can you just imagine that if they would have gotten into those cars and then entered into a high-speed pursuit, having two 11-year-olds behind the wheel in a very congested area like Bel Air at 10 o’clock in the morning? It’s extremely dangerous and that’s something our legislators need to take into consideration here.”
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The legislation, known as HB 459, passed in 2022, raised the age for charging juveniles with all but the most serious violent offenses to 13. The legislation was enacted into law without the signature of then-Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
“10-to-13[-year-old children] can only be charged for crimes of violence, such as, you know, the different crimes of violence defined by the state of Maryland, murder, rape, that kind of thing,” Harford County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Keith Smithson told the DCNF. “Anybody over 13 can be charged for most stuff, and anybody under the age of 10 cannot be charged with any crime in the state of Maryland.”
Despite the fact that the two had previously been caught breaking into cars in 2024, they would not have been charged had they been successful in stealing a vehicle, and charges might not be filed even if they injured or killed someone in an accident while driving a stolen car, Smithson told the DCNF.
“You’d have to have the intent of the homicide there for it to be considered a crime of violence,” Smithson told the DCNF.
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