STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Three car thefts on Staten Island in a 24-hour span last week triggered police responses, a pair of crashes and the arrests of multiple teens, leading one of Staten Island’s top law enforcement officials to call for changes in the state’s “Raise the Age” law.
The reform effectively changed the age a child can be prosecuted as an adult to 18 years old, since New York was one of just two states that previously held 16-year-olds criminally responsible, at the time. The law went into effect for 16-year-olds on Oct. 1, 2018, and 17-year-olds on Oct. 1, 2019.
District Attorney Michael E. McMahon, in a statement released on Friday, said the law will disallow his office from pursuing the cases.
“While those responsible for these unacceptable thefts were apprehended, as a result of Albany’s ‘Raise the Age Laws,’ our office is barred from prosecuting these cases, as each case will be sent to Family Court for prosecution by the City’s Law Department,” said McMahon. “While we believe in second chances, the current system put in place by misguided Albany legislators does nothing to hold these young people accountable, only teaching the lesson that their terrible conduct goes with limited to no consequences.”
The first incident, a police chase involving two juvenile suspects early on Aug. 14, 2023, took out a Concord-based firefighter monument honoring those who’ve died in the line of duty. Two 16-year-old males were arrested at the scene, police said.
Later that day, two teens — a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy — driving a stolen vehicle attempted to flee police Monday in Castleton Corners but instead crashed the car and were arrested with a loaded firearm.
A police response in Grasmere around 7 p.m. that night, stemming from the search for individuals sought for questioning in connection with a car stolen in New Jersey, led to several individuals being taken into custody, according to the NYPD.
McMahon said individuals…
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