14-year-old teen from Kent arrested for drink driving, pursued but released

KENT, Washington – A 14-year-old boy was arrested in Kent late last week after suspicion of drunken driving and a multi-agency chase, but was eventually released to his parents.

A Kent Police Department (KPD) officer initially noticed a driver failing to stop at a stop sign on West Meeker Street, police said in a social media post. The driver continued to ignore police lights and siren, eventually losing a tire and fleeing toward a nearby residence.

One of the officers who received the call said the teen appeared to have a gun in his hand as he ran away. Eventually, the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) helicopter radioed officers that it had observed the suspect jumping fences and climbing into a “top-opening freezer” in a backyard.

According to KPD, the suspect remained in the freezer for over 20 minutes. A K-9 team from Federal Way arrived on the scene, KPD said, and the suspect eventually opened the freezer. Police said he did not follow instructions and was eventually taken into custody.

He had blood drawn at a local hospital and was taken to the King County Juvenile Detention Center. According to KPD, the teen was “not admitted” and instead released to a parent. According to KPD, investigators are investigating suspicions of drunken driving and “fleeing, resisting and obstructing.”

King County has specific criteria for whether arrested juveniles should be taken into custody or released to a parent. Suspects can be “reviewed and released,” meaning a judge will review their case and decide whether they should be taken into custody or released. The intake criteria is determined in collaboration between the district attorney’s office, the Department of Public Defense (DPD), the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD) and the King County Superior Court, according to a court spokesperson.

The Detention Risk Assessment Instrument (DRAI) is one tool that can help with this decision. It weighs various criteria, such as the severity of the suspect’s alleged crime and the juvenile’s criminal history. It produces a score that assigns the suspect either release or detention. This can be adjusted up or down.

In the case of the Kent juvenile, Kent police did not specify why he was released from jail. According to King County’s admission criteria website, he either did not have a high enough DRAI to warrant incarceration or escape, one of the juvenile’s alleged crimes, is among the offenses eligible for review and release.

It should be noted that although an officer believed he saw the teen with a gun while fleeing from police, Kent’s release contained no further mention of a weapon and none of his offenses upon arrest were gun-related. The admission criteria page states that any offense involving a firearm requires incarceration until a judge reviews the case.

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