3 teens arrested after assaulting, carjacking 72-year-old woman in Bethesda: police
BETHESDA, Md. - Three teens have been arrested after police say they violently assaulted and carjacked a 72-year-old woman.
According to the Montgomery County Police Department, the victim was walking to her car in the 7700 block of Woodmont Ave. just before 1 a.m. Tuesday when she was tackled from behind and brought down to the ground by two suspects.
The suspects then demanded her car keys, cash, credit cards, and iPhone, and she complied.
"When it happened, I didn’t do the reaction I should have done, which is throw my bag at them and run away," the woman told FOX 5. "I did struggle with them quite a bit. I was yelling out ‘help, help’ although to be honest, part of that was because I didn’t want them to throw me in the car and take me to an ATM or something like that."
The victim told FOX 5 that the suspects then drove away in her 2012 Honda Fit. After she reported the incident to the police, a lookout was placed for the vehicle.
Officers later found the Honda Fit at the intersection of Georgia Ave. and Seminary Rd.
A traffic stop was conducted, and three suspects were taken into custody.
Police say 18-year-old Joseph Frank De-La-Paz, a 16-year-old, and a 15-year-old have all been charged with carjacking, assault and robbery.
De-La-Paz was transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit.
The 16-year-old was charged as an adult, and transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit. At the time of this arrest, the 16-year-old had an active arrest warrant for a carjacking that he allegedly committed on Wednesday, Nov. 8 in Rockville.
The 15-year-old was transported to a juvenile detention center. That teen has also been charged with an armed carjacking that occurred on Tuesday, Nov. 7 in Wheaton.
Featured
FOX Local special: City Under Siege returns as DC crime continues to rise
City Under Siege was a popular FOX 5 franchise tackling the crime epidemic in D.C. back in the 80s as drugs, guns and crime rocked the district.