Teenagers arrested following armed robbery

Two teenagers from the Mountain Home area remain in custody in the Elmore County Jail in connection with an armed robbery on Dec. 2.

City police responded to a home on the 500 block of North 11th East Street at 2:15 p.m. that day following a report of an armed robbery.

The teenagers stand accused of breaking into the home with one of them allegedly drawing a knife as they communicated their threats against an individual living in this home. The victim provided the police with identities of both suspects, who had fled the scene by the time law enforcement arrived at the home.

As part of a safety procedure, East Elementary School, Hacker Middle School and Bennett Mountain High School went on “soft lockdown” as law enforcement pursued the suspects. This security procedure involves locking the exterior doors of these schools while keeping students and teachers inside these buildings as regularly scheduled classroom activities continued that afternoon.

By 2:30 p.m,, police located the first suspect, who was taken into custody without incident. Law enforcement then continued an active search for the second suspect.

Around 8:45 a.m. Dec. 3, law enforcement located the second suspect, who was also taken into custody.

Police identified both suspects as juveniles, who are currently being processed through appropriate juvenile justice channels.

“The threat to public safety has been resolved,” said city interim police chief Ty Larsen, who extended his thanks to the cooperation of the local schools as well as the vigilance of community members and the dedication of the city’s law enforcement team to bring this matter to a swift conclusion.

The police chief asked those with any additional information regarding this incident to call the Mountain Home Police Department at (208) 587-2101.