Three Washington teens were arrested Friday after following a woman home and carjacking her at gunpoint, authorities said Monday.
Deputies responded around 7:30 p.m. to the armed carjacking in Spanaway, a community located about 14 miles south of Tacoma, the Pierce County Sheriff's Office said.
The 50-year-old victim told deputies she was just getting home with take-out food when she noticed a car behind her. Deputies said the woman "didn’t think anything of it" and pulled into her driveway.
As she exited her SUV, two suspects held her at gunpoint and demanded her keys, the sheriff's office said. The woman didn’t immediately cooperate, and one suspect allegedly hit her in the head with a firearm.
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The suspects drove away in the victim’s SUV and the vehicle they had followed her in, according to authorities.
Deputies located both vehicles at a nearby gas station and attempted to contact the occupants. However, officials said that both vehicles sped away in different directions, forcing deputies to split up in pursuit of each.
The driver of the victim’s SUV eventually collided with another vehicle and was apprehended along with a passenger.
The driver and passengers inside the suspects’ original vehicle eventually bailed out and fled on foot. The driver failed to put the vehicle in park, causing it to roll back into a patrol car.
Deputies arrested one of the fleeing occupants after tracking them with a K-9.
The three teens arrested included two 16-year-old males and one 16-year-old female. They face charges of first-degree robbery, first-degree assault, felony eluding and resisting arrest.
The sheriff’s office said the mother of one of the suspects told deputies that her son has been on house arrest following a similar incident.
"I want to come home and be safe. I don’t want to be followed home," Pierce County deputy Carly Cappetto told FOX13 Seattle. And the fact that this is where we’re at right now is a little nerve-wracking when you’ve got children at home."
Witnesses reported that four to six suspects appeared to be involved in the armed carjacking incident, the station reported.
