On Thursday, May 30, a sixteen-year-old boy was caught and linked to over forty stolen cars as he attempted to enter another stolen car.

According to the Tacoma Police Department, the boy had been stealing cars since October 2023.

Tacoma police arrested him with the assistance of the Fife Police Department and the Puget Sound Auto Theft Taskforce. He had the keys to the stolen car on him when he was arrested.

Detectives developed probable cause for the suspect’s arrest after evidence collected from the stolen cars was linked specifically to him. Police say the boy intentionally targeted “high-end” or “luxury” cars where the keys had been left inside.

The suspect was booked into the Remann Hall Juvenile Detention Center on twenty counts of possession of a stolen vehicle, eleven counts of theft of a motor vehicle, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree.