COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two teens were arrested Thursday after officers with the Whitehall Division of Police found them in a stolen vehicle – one of the boys had a stolen gun.
This is something that officers are seeing more often, according to Whitehall Police Sgt. Jon Earl.
Earl said officers got a hit on their Flock cameras early Thursday morning. Flock cameras read license plates and alert police to stolen vehicles passing through the city.
Officers stopped the vehicle on South High Street at the Walmart parking lot. Inside were two teens, a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old.
Earl said the passenger in the vehicle had a stolen gun tucked in his waistband and that the driver had recently been arrested in a stolen vehicle with a stolen weapon.
Both were charged with receiving stolen property.
“These kids are in these cars. It's not just a stolen car, they are out committing robberies, they are out committing burglaries, home invasions, and more serious crimes in these stolen cars,” Earl explained.
Earl said his officers will continue to arrest kids in stolen cars and hopes it makes a difference.
“We are saving lives out here by doing it. Whether we are stopping a murder or stopping an aggravated robbery or a home invasion. It is making the city safer by us doing it.”
He added that something else needs to change to stop the thieves.
“Stiffer penalties for these kids. It goes back to they have no fear of any repercussion that it is going to come back on them,” Earl said.