El Paso Police: Teens in robberies, car chase had several pellet guns and pointed them at police

The five teenagers who allegedly robbed four El Paso stores and led police on a chase into New Mexico had several pellet guns with them that could have been used in the crime spree.

El Paso Police revealed Thursday afternoon that the teens had two pellet shotguns and two pellet handguns in their vehicle that was stopped in New Mexico.

“Witnesses at all of the scenes believed that they were under the threat of real firearms,” EPPD Spokesman Enrique Carrillo said. “So there was a threat of imminent serious bodily injury that these people were faced with.”

The teens arrested are:

One 15-year-old male
Three 14-year-old males
One 15-year-old female

El Paso Police will not release their names because they are juveniles.

“All of the juveniles will be detained in a juvenile detention facility authorized by the district attorney’s office in coordination with juvenile authorities in Otero county,” Scot Key, Otero Co. prosecutor, told ABC-7 Wednesday night. “They will be incarcerated in a juvenile detention facility some place in New Mexico where we have a contract, maybe in Otero or Dona Ana county.

The teens will have their first appearance before a judge in Alamogordo.

“They turned out to be pellet guns,” Carrillo added. “They’re still dangerous. They can create or they can cause serious bodily injury to somebody or death.”

There may be a decision in the future to take all of the crimes in one jurisdiction and prosecute them. It depends on the availability of witnesses, where the juveniles live and other factors that become important during the investigation, Key said.

An El Paso Police spokesman said the first robbery happened shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday at 7-11 on Hondo Pass.

Shortly after 3 p.m., there were three East Side robberies, including a Burger King, Howdy’s convenience store, and another store in a strip mall. Police say it appears the doors and windows of the McRae convenience were smashed with pellets from a pellet gun.

After the Howdy’s robbery, police put out a be-on-the-lookout alert for the suspects in a red vehicle.

El Paso Police caught up to the group in Northeast El Paso when one of the suspects allegedly showed a gun to police.

That’s when a 90-mile-an-hour chase began on US 54 that ended more than 40 miles into New Mexico.

“The decision to pursue is weighed taking a number of factors into account,” Carrillo said. “They were on a string of robberies. Were they going to stop? Who knows? The violence had escalated was also a factor. That last (robbery) they had gone as far as firing rounds into the store and so clearly there was a perceived danger. That was one of the main factors for pursuing them.”

An El Paso Police spokesman said that at various points during the pursuit the teens pointed handguns at the officers involved.

House says the SUV the five teens were traveling in was reported stolen on Tuesday by the mother of one of the teens.

The chase lasted so long because the driver avoided spike strips that were thrown on the road at separate times.

House says once the teens were stopped, two of them tried to run away into the desert but were caught.