HOUSTON – Two teen suspects accused of the recent violent robberies along the Columbia Tap Bike Trail are in custody, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced Tuesday.
The Houston Police Department investigated multiple reported incidents in May of suspects targeting cyclists on the bike trail, which is located in the 3100 block of Anita Street.
The suspects were identified by officers as Deion Christten, 17, and Willie Carroll, 17. HPD declined to go into details on the arrests, saying the investigation is still active at this time.
“There’s no reason to be robbing anyone for any money. Get a job,” Mayor Turner said during a news conference Tuesday. “In fact, we have hirehoustonyouth.org. All you have to do right now is go online and we will give you a paid summer job and that goes for anyone from the ages of 16 to 24. Join the other 15,000 young folks from 16 to 24 who have already applied, who are set to go, who are set to work paid jobs, so you don’t have to rob. Just work.”
Court documents show there was a brief chase with the suspects and responding officers in a May 23rd incident on the trail. Records show the suspects got away. Officers then returned to where they first spotted them and found “a loaded black Glock 19 (air pistol),” records state. Officials later determined the weapon wasn’t an actual gun, “it was a CO2 cartridge pistol that looks like a real Glock pistol.”
Watch Tuesday’s full news conference below:
The documents also reveal the two suspects were identified with the help of Houston ISD school resource officers.
“The individuals all seemed young, so I got HISD officers to see if they could identify anyone on the video. The defendants were identified by HISD,” court documents said.
Hire Houston Youth plays major role in Houston’s efforts to reduce crime
While robbery incidents are going down, jugging cases have increased, HPD Chief Troy Finner said in Tuesday’s news conference. The department plans to establish a task force in an effort to combat those crimes.
Officers asked for the public’s help in the search for the suspects responsible for the series of robberies last month. According to HPD Executive Assistant Chief Larry J. Satterwhite, at least five robberies were reported on the trail in May.
SEE ALSO: ‘He got jumped’: Man severely beaten, robbed while riding bike in park in Third Ward area
Satterwhite said the first robbery was reported on May 16 and the last was on May 29. Most of the robberies occurred in the evening and into the night; however, police said one took place in broad daylight at around 10 a.m.
On the Saturday before Memorial Day, police said one man was beaten up badly by a group of robbers, who were believed to be young men. The victim’s wife said during the incident, one of the suspects hit her husband’s helmet with a gun so hard, it cracked the helmet.
The investigation to find the other suspects involved is ongoing. Anyone with information on this case is urged to contact HPD at (713) 884-3131.
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