Prosecutors charge 4 boys, one 11 years old, in gas station robbery in Washington state

4 boys, one 11, charged in Wash. state robbery

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Four boys, including one just 11 years old, have been charged with holding up a gas station in Washington state.

Bellevue police spokeswoman Carla Iafrate (eye-uh-FRAY’-tee) says the 11-year-old distracted the clerk while his 15-year-old brother got behind the clerk and held a pellet gun to his neck.

She alleges the boys got away with about $200 Sunday night. Police say the other two boys, also 15, waited across the street and acted as lookouts.

Officers say they recognized the brothers from surveillance video and arrested them Monday along with the two friends. All four were charged with first-degree robbery Thursday in King County Juvenile Court.

Court records say the 15-year-old accused of holding the pellet gun had talked about robbing a different store but the boys thought the clerk who worked there was “huge.” Documents say they decided on the gas station because the clerk there was a “short, scrawny guy.”