Crime and Courts

Two Arrested After Carjacking Attempt, Police Chase in Delaware, Officials Say

An 18-year-old man and a teen boy were arrested after they allegedly tried to steal a car at gunpoint before leading police on a 12-mile chase

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The Delaware State Police said that they have arrested an 18-year-old man and a teen boy following an attempted carjacking that ended in a crash in Wilmington, Delaware following a police chase.

On Saturday morning, law enforcement officials said that Kymani Roberts of Middletown, Delaware along with a 17-year-old boy are in police custody and have been charged with attempted robbery and related offences following a carjacking attempt that occurred in Bear, Delaware on Friday.

According to police, the incident occurred just after 9:30 a.m. on Friday, outside of an LA Fitness located at 900 Eden Circle. At about that time, a 48-year-old man from Phoenixville allegedly told police that he was seated in the parking lot in his locked vehicle when one individual tried to enter the back seat of his car, while another person, armed with a handgun, stood at the driver's side door.

The armed individual, police said, demanded keys from the victim and got into the car after the victim complied.

Police said that the the victim ran and was uninjured.

After these two individuals got into the car, law enforcement officials said, they couldn't properly reverse the vehicle out of its parking space and, gave up before fleeing the area in a Honda Accord.

According to investigators, officers then saw this Honda traveling eastbound on Pulaski Highway and attempted to stop the car, but the vehicle sped off.

Police officials said that the driver -- who police claim was Roberts -- led officers on a chase along the highway before crashing in the area of East 4th Street at Swedes Landing Road in Wilmington.

Law enforcement officials said that Roberts was arrested after the crash and a search of the vehicle led to the recovery of a black airsoft gun that closely resembled an actual handgun.

The other individual, a 17-year-old boy from New Castle, Delaware, was located and detained on New Castle Avenue a short time after Roberts' arrest, according to police.

The Delaware State Police said officials are still actively investigating this incident.

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