JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Neighbors and community leaders are concerned Thursday after an underage boy, who was reported missing Wednesday, committed several crimes across Riverside and Jacksonville Beach.
Thursday morning, a woman on Second Street South was spanked on her buttocks and ordered to hand over her money by a boy who lifted up his Orlando Magic jersey to display a "pistol" in his waistband, according to Jacksonville Beach police.
Police said the robber threatened to kill her, so she gave up some possessions and her phone.
"He proceeded to grope me, ask for my money, flash me a gun," the victim told News4Jax. "That was the last thing I expected, especially from him. He seemed so young. You don't expect someone so young to flash a gun, or what looked like a gun, in broad daylight in the street."
She said the boy rode away on a bicycle.
Officers located a suspect in possession of her property in the 12th Avenue, South End Zone, and was positively identified. The "pistol" turned out to be a toy, and the suspect turned out to be a 12-year-old, currently listed as a runaway from Jacksonville.
"Twelve years old and to go through what he did over the past 24 hours, it's pretty frightening," Mark Evans with the Jacksonville Beach Police Department, said. "Even though it's a toy gun, what if he would have pulled out on the wrong person? Or someone thinks that they're getting robbed or someone has a weapon themselves? They can take matters into their own hands to protect themselves."
The boy told police he left his Brentwood home Wednesday after an argument with his mom, went to Riverside and broke into a few cars. He said he made his way out to Neptune Beach, where he entered some more cars and stole a bicycle and rode to Jacksonville Beach.
Police said the boy admitted stealing the toy gun from a Dollar General store. He said he also stole some cologne and other items at Walgreen's in Jacksonville Beach prior to robbing the victim on Second Street.
The boy, who News4Jax is not naming because of his age, is charged with armed robbery, battery and petty theft.
Jacksonville and Neptune Beach police were notified and are following up on the crimes that the boy claimed occurred in those jurisdictions.
Travis Patterson is a local reverend and when he heard one of his young neighbors was arrested for committing a string of crimes in the last 24 hours, he thought of his own child, Jeremiah.
"Twelve years old you know. What's going on with our communities?" Patterson questioned.
Patterson and his son said incidents like these shed light on the lack of resources in their community.
"You can't leave the community to raise your children, you have to be there with them," Patterson said. "Things that used to go on for us (in the community), the teen center, the youth programs, all that stuff has left our community as a whole."
Jeremiah Moorehead, who is a neighbor of the 12-year-old, said that the lack of resources leave young people with a sense of loss and hopelessness.
"I've been on a restorative justice team and (the youth) talk about how they want to commit suicide or they don't have enough friends or have enough activities," Moorehead said.
Ultimately, Moorehead and Patterson say more activities in the area will keep children on the right track.
"If the community doesn't step up and do it, what do you think is going to happen to the children? They're going to do the wrong thing," Patterson said.