SEATTLE — Two young teenage carjacking suspects faced a judge for the first time on Tuesday. They’re accused of carjacking a woman in North Seattle, trying to carjack another victim, and then taking police on a high-speed chase down North Aurora Avenue.
Police also found that the 12- and 13-year-old suspects, who are brothers, both had Polymer 80 “ghost guns” on them.
“Do you understand how serious this is?” said Judge Veronica Galvan to the younger teen suspect in court on Tuesday.
Galvan ruled to allow the 12-year-old to be released on home electronic monitoring but decided the 13-year-old driver would be held in custody.
They’re suspected of carjacking a woman as she got home to her apartment after shopping, before attempting to carjack a second victim about an hour later. That second victim was Richard Galliher.
Galliher said the brothers showed up on both sides of his car – one, knocking on his window with a pistol.
“I kept saying oh hell no, it wasn’t going to happen,” Galliher said.
He got out of the car and locked it – but then says both brothers pointed guns at him, and one fired a shot.
“It rang into the air,” Galliher said. “I was looking at the pistols pointed at me and thinking about level 1 trauma center at Harborview.”
Police spotted the teens in the first carjacking victim’s blue Subaru shortly after and started chasing, topping 80 miles per hour on North Aurora.
Both teens ended up arrested and recovered a gun from each teen.
Investigators said it turns out both those guns were Polymer 80 ghost guns made from a kit, and that the firearms did not have a serial number. Ghost guns are illegal in Washington State.
“Like holy crap,” Galliher said. “Where are the parents? How does this happen? How do they get these kit guns, these Polymer 80s?”
Court documents shed a little light. When one victim asked why the kids were robbing her, one of the brothers replied, “My mom kicked me out.”
And the older brother later told a nurse at the hospital while he was getting checked out “he and his brother really needed the money.”
Juvenile probation counselor Williette Venkataya also suggested trouble at home.
“I’m not in support of release at this time,” Venkataya said. “There is this older gentleman boys speak about who pretty much has been having them commit crime.”
Despite a plea from mom for home electronic monitoring, Judge Galvan decided to keep the 13-year-old boy in custody but allowed the 12-year-old to be released with an ankle monitor.
The defense attorney indicated the 12-year-old boy had no prior trouble at school and was largely influenced by his older brother.
Galvan also ordered no contact between the two brothers.
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