The pair of teenagers charged in an attempted carjacking that left a former DOGE staffer bloodied were released from a youth holding facility and into the custody of their caretakers on a strict curfew.
The 15-year-old boy and girl from Maryland were arrested by police after an attempted unarmed carjacking in Washington, DC that DOGE whiz Edward Coristine, better known as “Big Balls,” tried to stop before he was beaten to a pulp on Aug. 3.
President Trump cited the assault on Coristine before his crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital, complete with a takeover of the city’s police and activation of the National Guard — which many Republican-led states have bolstered by sending their own troops.
The teens were both held at the Youth Services Center until their hearing Thursday, where former President Joe Biden-appointed Judge Kendra Briggs decided to release them — for now.
The girl will be sent to a youth shelter house and the boy will be released into his mother’s care on the caveat that they both adhere to a 24-hour curfew, electronic monitoring and refrain from contacting one another, among other restrictions.
“The fact that this court is stepping you down from Youth Services Center is a serious step,” Briggs told the teenagers, as reported by The Washington Post.
They should only be moving between “school and home, that it,” Briggs said. If they are involved in any violence after their release, Briggs promised to schedule an emergency hearing to reconsider her decision.
The girl, Briggs noted, has “major truancy issues” and was even missing from home for a few months at one point. At the youth shelter, where electronics are banned, she will be drug tested weekly.
The boy will be sent to his home because the shelter house is unreasonably far away from his school, Briggs said, noting that she “didn’t want to put hardship” on his family.
Still, he will also have to complete spot drug tests, Briggs added.
Prosecutors have insisted that the girl, who still has another pending matter in Maryland, is a danger to the community and even a flight risk. Her attorney, though, asserts that she was only “in the vicinity” of the attack and that there was limited evidence to prove she was fully involved.
Neither teen had come into contact with the DC juvenile justice system before now, both their attorneys said.
Both are expected to start school within the next week — falling in line with the girl’s anticipated trial for her outstanding Maryland case.
Authorities are still looking for a black male they suspect was also involved in the carjacking attempt.
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