WILMINGTON, DE — Delaware State Police arrested a 14-year-old Newark boy Thursday in connection with an armed robbery that occurred late last month in a Wilmington parking lot.
According to Delaware State Police, troopers responded to a report of an armed robbery around 5:00 p.m. on June 29 at a shopping center in the 3100 block of Kirkwood Highway. Investigators said a victim was walking through the parking lot selling candy when a suspect approached and demanded property.
When the victim initially refused, the suspect allegedly displayed a handgun. Police reported the victim then complied, and the suspect fled the scene with the stolen property. The victim was not injured during the encounter.
Detectives with the Delaware State Police Criminal Investigations Unit took over the case and subsequently identified the 14-year-old as the suspect, determining he was staying at a hotel in the 1100 block of South College Avenue in Newark. Investigators noted the teenager was on probation following a felony adjudication from a 2025 stolen motor vehicle investigation.
On July 23, state police detectives and members of the U.S. Marshals Service First State Fugitive Task Force took the teenager into custody at the hotel without incident. According to investigators, a search warrant executed on the room uncovered a loaded handgun and additional evidence connecting the teen to the robbery.
The suspect was transported to Troop 2 and charged with:
- Robbery First Degree (Felony)
- Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony (Felony)
- Possession of a Firearm or Ammunition by a Person Prohibited Adjudicated Delinquent (Felony)
- Carrying a Concealed Deadly Weapon (Felony)
Following an arraignment by the New Castle County Family Court, the juvenile was committed to the Department of Services for Children, Youth, & Their Families on a $120,000 cash bond.
All suspects, arrestees, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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