Teen suspect arrested for home break-in, carjacking pregnant woman, officials say

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 15-year-old suspected of carjacking a pregnant woman Wednesday evening at an east Charlotte gas station was arrested.

He is the same suspect who allegedly broke into an east Charlotte home Monday, stole a gun and put an elementary school on lockdown, sources told Channel 9.

According to those sources, the teen stole a young pregnant mother’s car from a gas station on East W.T. Harris Boulevard around 6 p.m. while she was paying for gas.

“He was already at the light, and the people at the gas station were screaming, 'He took your car,'” said the victim, Cherise Wilson. "He hit a few other people leaving the scene."

[PAST COVERAGE: Teen who broke into house was wearing ankle monitor, police say]

Sources believe the crime could have been prevented.

Police said the teen was wearing an electronic monitor issued by a private contractor working with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety on Monday when he allegedly broke into the home. But they said they couldn’t track it without a judge's order.

“It gives me great cause for concern that CMPD has to take an extra step,” said Marcus Philemon, with Courtwatch.

Sources said without the use of that technology, the teen was able to get away from officers, and they believe he eventually cut it off.

"That is very much frustrating, and then to find out it's a teenager, it's a kid," Wilson said.

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The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department issues electronic monitors to serious juvenile offenders, but new changes leave it up to the state to supervise hundreds of others.

State leaders sent Channel 9 a copy of the policy:

"All EM-related requests from Law Enforcement shall have a court order signed by a Judge or a Search Warrant signed by a Magistrate or Judge before the Chief Court Counselor can release the EM records."

But state officials said there are exceptions to that policy. If there is a public safety risk, officials can check a young person’s electronic monitor and provide location information from the suspect’s electronic monitor to the police.

A spokesman for the Department of Public Safety said that in emergencies, police can ask them to track a juvenile who may be on the run. That didn't happen Monday.

Cox Media Group