A 14-year-old was arrested, and another suspect remains at large after an armed robbery at a lemonade stand in Boston, authorities said.
The Boston Police Department (BPD) announced last week that it was investigating an armed robbery at a lemonade stand, involving two suspects believed to be around 14 and 11 years old. Following news of the robbery, the South Boston community, including some of its elected officials, turned out to support the young victims.
Here’s what you should know about the robbery and how the community responded.
According to BPD, officers responded to a report of an armed robbery at a lemonade stand at about 4:44 p.m. ET on June 10, a police report obtained by USA TODAY states.
When they arrived, the officers spoke with the two children who had been operating the stand. CBS News identified them as David Byrne, 12, and his 11-year-old sister Juliette.
The police report states that the two suspects walked past the lemonade stand several times before stopping to ask if the Byrne children accepted Apple Pay. Before they could answer, the suspects grabbed a cash box containing roughly $50, flashed a gun, and proceeded to run away.
“He walked over here, he said, ‘I might need to take the box,’ and he grabbed it with one hand, and then he showed us the gun,” David Byrne told CBS News Boston.
He added: “My sister, she put her hands up and I just said, ‘You can have it.’ But after that, I just was like a little annoyed because we were 12 and 11, and you shouldn’t really do that.”
In its news release, BPD said the suspect who was arrested is expected to be arraigned in Boston Juvenile Court on several charges, including delinquency, armed robbery, and unlawful possession of a firearm. The suspect has not been identified because he is a minor.
“I’m pretty disgusted with it. They’re young children,” Byrne’s father, Dave, told CBS News after the robbery. “It was in the middle of broad daylight.”
According to CBS News, the lemonade stand reopened the following day. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu stopped by to support David and Juliette, and Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn said a portion of the stand’s proceeds will go to a local group dedicated to gun violence prevention.
“This just shows awareness of gun violence, and that you shouldn’t do this at this age or at all,” said David.
Nicole Raukohl, a family friend, told CBS News that she was “angry” that this happened in the community. “We’re not just going to let that happen, this is safe place usually and for this to happen is incredibly sad,” she said.
Jonathan Raukohl added: “It’s safe, it’s fun and they literally do this every day, and this is one thing that happened. So of course it’s awful, right, but we want them to know we’re not going to stop them playing on the street, we’re not going to stop them hanging out with the kids around.”
Drew Pittock covers national trending news for USA TODAY. He can be reached at DPittock@usatodayco.com.
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