Brooklyn On Edge After Twin Carjackings

Two Brooklyn teenagers now face charges after police say one of them tried to run down a police officer with a stolen car during a violent carjacking spree.

Story Snapshot

Police arrested two teenagers Tuesday night tied to two armed carjackings in Brooklyn.
The first attack happened outside a Midwood restaurant, where suspects tried to rob a 24-year-old man at gunpoint.
An officer fired a shot less than an hour later after a suspect allegedly drove a stolen car straight at him.
No one was hit by the gunshot, and both teens were taken into custody.
The case fits a wider trend of rising teen involvement in carjackings across New York City.

Two Armed Carjackings Reported Within an Hour

New York Police Department officers responded to two separate armed carjackings in Brooklyn on Tuesday night, according to police. The first happened around 7:40 p.m. in Midwood. Two teenage suspects tried to rob a 24-year-old man at gunpoint outside a restaurant on East 16th Street. Less than an hour later, a second armed carjacking broke out nearby, and police say the same pattern of violence continued.

The second incident happened just after 8:30 p.m. near the intersection of Avenue O and East 15th Street, close to the first crime scene. Police say a suspect drove a vehicle toward an officer during the encounter. The officer fired one shot to stop the threat. No one was struck by the gunfire, according to police.

Officer Fires Shot as Suspect Drives Toward Him

Police say the moment turned dangerous fast when the driver allegedly steered the stolen car directly at the responding officer. That decision forced the officer to fire in self-defense, a split-second call that could have ended in tragedy for either side. Officers took two teenagers into custody following the chaos, closing out a night that spanned two crime scenes and multiple felony charges.

Police have not released the exact charges facing the two teens or their ages, though officials confirmed both are minors. The investigation into both carjackings continues, and detectives are working to confirm whether the same two suspects committed both robberies or whether additional people were involved.

Part of a Bigger Pattern in New York City

This arrest fits into a larger shift researchers have tracked in recent years. Carjacking rates nationally climbed after a long decline, and teenagers now make up a bigger share of those crimes than they used to. In 2018, adults committed carjackings at a higher rate than juveniles. By 2023, the juvenile rate had passed the adult rate for the first time.

New York City data tells a similar story. Robbery arrests among people under 18 more than doubled between 2021 and 2023, jumping from around 1,000 arrests a year to over 2,300. Experts caution that not every carjacking case fits neatly into a single explanation, but the numbers show more young people are getting swept into violent street crime than just a few years ago.

Cases like this one raise a question that voters on both sides of the political aisle keep asking: why do violent crimes involving teenagers keep making headlines even as city leaders promise crackdowns? Parents in Brooklyn and across the city want safe streets. They also want fair treatment for young offenders who may still have a chance to turn their lives around. Balancing those two goals remains one of the toughest jobs facing police, prosecutors, and lawmakers alike.

For now, the two teenagers face the legal process ahead, including arraignment and formal charges tied to both Brooklyn incidents. Police say the investigation remains open as they work to determine what led two young people to allegedly target strangers at gunpoint in the same neighborhood twice in one night.