A 17-year-old high school student from Montgomery Village, Maryland, was arrested last week and charged with armed robbery in connection with several robberies involving pizza delivery drivers. Officials at Watkins Mill High School said the boy is a senior there and played varsity football last fall. He now faces two counts of attempted armed robbery and could face several more charges pending the outcome of other investigations.
Police say the teen suspect placed false pizza delivery orders online, giving false names and bogus phone numbers. When the delivery was attempted, authorities say the teen approached the delivery person while wearing a mask, holding a gun. The same type of burglary was committed six times starting in June, and police identified the teen as the suspect.
Officers say they observed the teenager attempting the same scheme last week. However, officers canceled the fraudulent order, which sent out a cancellation notice via the restaurant’s cell phone application. After the cancellation, the order was re-submitted with the same false name; officers again cancelled the order. When the boy attempted to make his way home, he was intercepted by police and attempted to run away. Officers say they recovered a black ski mask and a pellet gun that he had discarded during the chase.
Now the boy faces an uncertain future. Finishing high school is in doubt, as he was charged as an adult with the attempted armed robbery charges. Penalties for these charges, should he be convicted, would be severe and if he were sentenced to prison, that time would be spent in a regular correctional facility rather than one for juvenile offenders.
Source: Gaithersburg Patch, “Watkins Mill Senior Charged in Spree of Pizza-Delivery Robberies,” Greg Cohen, Aug. 22, 2012