Seattle police arrested a 13-year-old boy for attempting to rob a 12-year-old of his bicycle at knifepoint in West Queen Anne, only for the teen to be mistakenly released from King County juvenile detention the next day.
According to the Seattle Police Department, the incident happened on September 27 when officers responded to a robbery in the 1900 block of First Avenue West.
After interviewing the victim and reviewing surveillance footage, police determined that the suspect had attempted the robbery on the grounds of a local middle school.
Officers were able to locate the suspect’s home, and a multilingual officer fluent in Brazilian Portuguese assisted in communicating with the boy’s family.
The teen was arrested and booked into the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children & Family Justice Center on robbery charges.
However, on September 28, officials at the detention center mistakenly released the boy.
Without a court-issued arrest warrant, police could not take him back into custody.
Regardless, the boy still showed up for his first court appearance Monday, where the court found probable cause for attempted robbery.
The case has been assigned to detectives in the Robbery Unit, who are continuing the investigation.