WISE - Two teens accused of stealing a police vehicle recently appeared in court, both entering guilty pleas on charges of grand theft auto and destruction of public property.

Both boys, who are 16 and 17 years old, appeared in Juvenile and Domestic Relations court Thursday, April 7. A third boy, Hud Turner, 16, will be tried as an adult in circuit court.

One of the teens was sentenced by Judge Elizabeth Wills to a stay at Keystone, a treatment center in Marion, with a suspended commitment to the Department of Juvenile Justice. According to Adrian Collins, assistant commonwealth attorney and prosecutor in this case, the facility is a high security group home.

Wills told the boy that something needs to make him stop and think about his actions, and that previous punishments on 29 other charges obviously have not worked. She expressed concerns that the boy does well in treatment programs until he comes across a bad influence.

"When a bad influence comes along, you just take off," she said. "We've not been able to change that yet."

A commitment to the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice in Richmond might be too frightening, Wills said, and would provide him with more bad influences. She warned the boy that some kids in the state detention system are "people you can't imagine."

"When you took your trip across the state, you didn't really get to stop anywhere," Wills said. "Richmond is a very scary and bad place."

The boy will be held at Highlands Detention Center in Bristol until he can be transferred to Keystone.

The other juvenile, represented by court-appointed attorney Dan Fast, pleaded guilty to his charges but was not sentenced.

After entering his guilty plea, the boy told the judge he took the car, while the other boy was guilty of throwing radios and other police equipment out the window.

Wills ordered an update of the boy's social history report by social workers and probation officers before sentencing. Updates to social history reports can take up to eight weeks, she said, but are necessary if a child is to be committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Wills expressed disappointment in the boy, who has a criminal record and has appeared in her court before.

"Of everything you could take, why that?" she asked. "You had yourself on the way to a good, productive life."

The boy's disposition hearing is set for June 2.

Back

©Coalfield.com 2005