ST. LOUIS — A 12-year-old boy was arrested after police said he and two teens carjacked an employee in front of the Justice Center early Thursday.
While on scene investigating the incident at 3:15 a.m., police found the stolen car at 10th and Cass. The 12-year-old ran from them, but officers arrested him and the two other suspects got away.
The 33-year-old victim then identified the 12-year-old boy as one of the suspects who took their vehicle, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
Police said one of the suspected carjackers was armed with a gun, but they did not believe it was the 12-year-old.
It's not the first instance of kids committing carjackings in the city.
Pastor Mike Coleman of Carondelet Baptist Church in south St. Louis hasn't given up on the young people who carjacked him in his church parking lot back in January.
"These kids aren't thinking this stuff up. They are being tempted. They are being put up to it."
Coleman told 5 On Your Side he was figuring out how to provide a haven for youth through his ministry.
"Every individual I know either doesn't have a father figure in their life or they don't have hope," he said.
On the north side Thursday, a church-led resource center just opened and is already impacting the lives of kids and their families.
They picked up clothes and food free of charge at the building at 5164 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive.
"If we can help meet some of the needs of the community. it may decrease the crime rate," said First lady Shirley Wooten of Williams Temple Church of God In Christ.
The 12-year-old child involved in Thursday's carjacking remains in custody at the Juvenile Detention Center.