LANCASTER — A 17-year-old juvenile is facing multiple charges after police say he was caught with an illegal firearm and a quantity of marijuana after attempting to flee from two Lancaster City Police officers on his bicycle Tuesday.
The teen, whom police did not identify, also spat on one of the officers after he was taken into custody, police say.
The incident occurred around 2 p.m. on South Prince Street, police say.
According to police, two officers on patrol spotted the juvenile suspect and another teen riding their bikes northbound on South Prince Street –against the flow of traffic. One of the officers noticed the juvenile suspect matched the description of a suspect in a prior robbery investigation, police say.
One of the officers stopped the second teen on the first block of W. Andrew Street, according to police. The juvenile suspect continued riding east toward East Strawberry Street, and the officers lost contact with him, police say.
The officers consulted Lancaster Safety Coalition cameras to determine the juvenile suspect went through an alley off the 500 block of North Street. Police searched the area and discovered the juvenile’s bike, which had been discarded in the alley.
The juvenile suspect was then discovered in the back yard of a home on the 500 block of Atlantic Avenue, police say.
While officers attempted to determine if he had weapons, the suspect allegedly pulled his arms away from the officers and resisted attempts to control him. Other officers arrived on the scene and assisted in taking the juvenile into custody, police say.
Police placed the juvenile in restraints, and located a semi-automatic handgun in the waistband of his pants, police say. They also found a quantity of marijuana that been packaged for sale in a backpack he had been carrying, according to police.
Once he was in custody, police say, the suspect spat at an officer, hitting him in the face two times.
The juvenile is charged with a felony count of possession of a firearm by a minor, a felony count of firearms not to be carried without a license, a felony count of possession with intent to deliver marijuana, a felony count of aggravated harassment by prisoner, misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest, and a summary roadway violation.
Lancaster County Juvenile Probation authorized detention of the juvenile at the Youth Intervention Center, police say.
