MINNEAPOLIS — A 10-year-old is in custody after Minneapolis police said he drove a stolen vehicle recklessly across a crowded school playground.
Minneapolis police said officers responded to Nellie Stone Johnson School on Sept. 20. Surveillance video shows the car driving on the grass and sidewalk close to the busy playground multiple times. School staff moved children out of harm's way, helping to prevent anyone from being struck.
The 10-year-old boy was identified as the driver and was booked into the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center on Thursday for probable cause second-degree assault.
MPD stated the boy is "very well known to us," having been included in at least 30 police reports for crimes related to auto theft since 2023.
In a press conference, Chief Brian O'Hara said the age of active juvenile offenders is beginning to trend younger and their crimes more severe.
According to police, the boy in this case is also a suspect in more than a dozen others, ranging from auto theft to robbery to assault with a dangerous weapon.
O'Hara said in addition to reckless driving and receiving stolen property charges filed in connection with the school incident, the boy has also been charged with threats of violence and attempt to commit an auto theft, stemming from an August encounter in which O'Hara claimed the boy wielded a knife before allegedly telling the attempted carjacking victim he would "gut her."
O'Hara said the family is cooperating with police and has asked for help in the past working with their son.
“It is unfathomable that a 10-year-old boy has been involved in this level of criminal activity without effective intervention,” O’Hara said. “Prison is not an acceptable option for a 10-year-old boy. But the adults who can stop this behavior going forward must act now to help this child and his family."
O'Hara added he's aware the boy's mother has asked "the system" for help, but "the system has been failing her and failing her child, and we need to figure out what the answer to that is." He said the boy's mother referred to "the system" as "the devil's playground," as she allegedly told O'Hara that without consequences, kids are engaging in crimes "for their own entertainment."
"It’s disappointing to the community that when police do bring someone like this in — which is our job [that] when we find someone we arrest them, we bring them in — that the system doesn’t have an answer for what to do with someone this young, and that is the revolving door that we’ve been seeing over and over throughout this year.
"And it’s an urgent problem that everyone, at all levels of government, needs to come up with an answer to address."
Earlier Friday morning, the office of Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty released a statement calling for "urgent and immediate action" to address the "complex needs" of seemingly troubled youth.
The full statement reads:
“The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has filed charges in this matter because of the very significant safety implications both for this child and the broader community. We will have no further statement on this specific matter as the law prohibits the sharing of criminal justice information related to children this young.
"It is important to note that in all cases, a person, including a child, cannot be prosecuted if they are not capable of understanding the legal proceedings or assisting their lawyer in the defense. A court-appointed psychologist makes a recommendation on competency to a judge who ultimately makes the decision. If a child is found not competent by the court, the case against them must be dismissed or suspended, and the child must be released from custody.
“We are facing an urgent crisis in our community related to a small group of children who are not competent to stand trial in the juvenile justice system, but who cannot safely be at home. We are actively engaged with law enforcement, as well as county and state partners, about the critical need for safe and appropriate out-of-home placements for children with these complex needs who require specialized care. We cannot charge or prosecute our way out of this crisis.
“What we need is clear: residential placements with varying levels of security in our community that are resourced and staffed to be able to accept and successfully treat our youth with complex needs. And we need urgent and immediate action to address this issue now.”