After high profile crashes, Gov. Moore targets youth auto theft

Gov. Wes Moore said Tuesday he’s has had enough of children stealing cars in Maryland.

About two weeks after a motorcyclist was killed in Baltimore after being struck by a car allegedly driven by a 12-year-old, Moore ordered the state Department of Juvenile Services to coordinate a multiagency intervention into youth auto theft.

“Public safety is my top priority, and I am concerned by the recent frequency of motor vehicle thefts involving youth and young children,” Moore wrote in a directive addressed to Betsy Fox Tolentino, state’s juvenile services director, released on Tuesday. “Most tragically recent incidents have resulted in severe injuries and fatalities across our communities.”

Moore’s directive orders Tolentino to create a pilot program for swift, coordinated responses to auto thefts involving youths in Baltimore and Montgomery County, the two jurisdictions, according to the governor, that are experiencing the highest increases in stolen cars this year.

In the state’s largest city and county, Moore said, officials need to do a better job identifying children who steal vehicles or are at the greatest risk of doing so. The local program Moore called for would then coordinate interventions with the child, their family, social services providers and law enforcement.

Tolentino was tasked with overseeing the establishment of a “specialized early intervention pathway” primarily focused on children under 13 who cannot be charged with most crimes in Maryland, according to the directive. This program will focus on kids displaying “concerning behaviors” before charges can be filed and deliver “targeted support services” to them.

Moore also ordered Tolentino to explore adopting a program similar to one in Ramsey County, Minnesota, which encompasses the state’s capital, St. Paul. In 2021, officials there launched an auto theft intervention project that pairs law enforcement with credible community members to intervene in the lives of at-risk youths.

Officials in Baltimore, especially State’s Attorney Ivan Bates and Police Commissioner Richard Worley, have been outspoken recently about youth crime in the city. Both have lamented that their hands are tied on holding child offenders accountable, stymied by either recently passed laws or what they describe as a flawed youth justice system.

Spokespeople for Worley and Mayor Brandon Scott did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the governor’s announcement.

At a news conference last week, Bates described the gut-wrenching conversation his team had with the family of 69-year-old Barry Wright, who was killed on his motorcycle at the intersection of North Dukeland Street and West North Avenue.

Bates said the 12-year-old boy allegedly driving the car that killed Wright should have been charged with involuntary manslaughter. Instead, he said, the legislature recently prohibited children his age from being charged with that offense, among others.

“I take no pleasure or joy of ever holding our young people accountable, but it really hurts when having to speak to a family after their loved one has been killed. And to make things even more difficult, to have to tell them that there will essentially be no one held responsible or accountable for their loved one’s loss of life.”

In a statement Tuesday, Bates cheered Moore’s announcement and pledged to work together with others involved in the initiative.

“I commit to working with both the Governor’s Office, as well as DJS, to create and implement programs that tackle this public safety crisis and will stand side-by-side with them to address any loopholes in public policy that prevent us from holding everyone accountable for their actions, especially when their actions have caused the loss of life of an innocent bystander,” Bates said.

This article may be updated.