MILL CREEK — A 14-year-old boy is now facing a felony robbery charge for assaulting a 5-year-old boy and stealing his scooter. The teen reportedly posted a video of the attack online.
The teen has multiple other outstanding charges, including an incident stemming from online threats made to his former middle school principal. He reportedly asked others on Instagram if they wanted to shoot up the woman’s house.
She stepped forward to report the post after learning the boy had made threats to bring a gun to Jackson High School.
The teen’s criminal cases are on hold for now. The boy was admitted to a mental health facility out of state, according to court documents. His parents, who have reported being assaulted by the boy, have been working to get him help.
Options are limited in Snohomish County. There isn’t a dedicated inpatient psychiatric clinic for juveniles. The Smokey Point Behavioral Hospital opened its doors over the summer, adding inpatient beds for adults. It expects to open an adolescent unit in the future.
The boy’s parents had sought court intervention before the park assault, filing an At-Risk Youth petition. They reported that the boy was missing school because he was staying up all night playing video games. He had vandalized the family home and punched his mother when she tried to get him to school. Court-directed counseling wasn’t helping, the family told police in June.
The robbery of the 5-year-old happened in August. The video shows the teen rushing toward a young boy riding a scooter. The teen hurled a basketball at the boy, striking him in the back. The suspect then ripped the scooter from the boy’s hands and rode off.
Throughout the incident, the teen can be heard yelling and cursing at the child, according to the police report.
The teen’s younger brother admitted to filming the incident. The suspect posted it online to Instagram. Several people saw the video and reported it to police.
The teen told officers he was trying to teach the boy “respect.”
Some time after the video was posted the boy also made threatening comments online about shooting up Jackson High on his first day of school.
He was arrested and booked into Denney Juvenile Justice Center.
Prosecutors earlier this month charged the boy with second-degree robbery for the August incident. He’s also charged with cyberstalking for threats he made toward his former middle school principal.
Once news got out about his arrest, the woman became worried the teen would follow through with threats he made toward her in March. He reportedly wrote in a post that he had found her address and asked “who wanna shoot up her hood with me?”
Parents also emailed her notifying her that they had seen offensive photographs online. In the photos, the boy was standing in front of a wall that had been spray-painted with a derogatory comment directed at the principal.
She also had been alerted that the boy came into the local YMCA with a T-shirt bearing the same profane message toward her. Staff told him to change his shirt. He flipped them off, called them names and walked out.
The principal told police she had expelled the boy from school in June. She said she was afraid he’d carry out his threats.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
Need help?
The Snohomish County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness offers free support groups and classes for parents and other caregivers whose children are living with mental illness. For more information, call 425-339-3620 or send an email to nami.snohomish.county@gmail.com.
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