Teen facing multiple charges in alleged Vancouver carjacking

A 16-year-old boy appeared Monday morning in Clark County Juvenile Court after allegedly flashing a gun at a 64-year-old woman and stealing her car Saturday afternoon in Vancouver.

Jamarion L. Croxton is facing charges of first-degree robbery, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and resisting arrest. His hearing was set over to Wednesday to review whether he will be released from juvenile detention.

Vancouver police responded at about 4:30 p.m. to an apartment complex in the 12900 block of Northeast 28th Street for reports of a carjacking.

The woman told police she was unloading groceries from her car when she heard someone approach. She turned around to find a boy, later identified by police as Croxton, pointing a handgun at her. He told her to give him her car keys, and once she did, he drove off in her car, according to a probable cause affidavit.

At 5:20 p.m. Camas police officers found the stolen Nissan Altima in a Safeway parking lot, court records state. Officers saw Croxton, who matched the suspect description the woman gave police, walking near the car.

When officers approached him, Croxton put his hand in his jacket pocket and ran, according to the affidavit.

Police found Croxton nearly an hour and a half later hiding in the backyard of a house in the 700 block of Northeast Second Avenue. Behind a shed in the yard, officers found a handgun hidden in the weeds, court records say.

The grass in the yard appeared to be matted down, as if someone was lying down. A nearby fence also appeared to be damaged from someone running through it, the affidavit states.

Croxton surrendered once police spotted him. The woman later identified Croxton as the person who stole her car, court records say.