Woman reports mugging by 2 kids

When confronted by two youngsters who demanded her purse, Rajinderpal Teja did what many mothers would do: she scolded them — even though one of the children was armed.

But when the 56-year-old nurse tried to walk away, she said the older of the two cursed at her and yanked the purse strap from her shoulder. The two then bolted.

The King County Sheriff's Office said Monday that, based on Teja's initial statement to police, the muggers were two boys possibly as young as 7 and 10 years, and dubbed them the "peewee robbers."

Teja said later Monday she now believes the pair were a 10-year-old girl and a boy about 14, but she conceded she was having difficulty remembering the incident.

Despite the discrepancy, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart said police believe the woman's account of being mugged by two children is credible.

Teja said she had just gotten off the bus after her shift at a downtown Seattle drug- and alcohol-detoxification center when the two children approached her about 9:40 p.m. Wednesday near 74th Avenue South and South 116th Place in Skyway. One was armed with a handgun, and they demanded her purse, she said.

"I said, 'This is my purse,' " Teja said. "Two times I tried to move with my purse, and the third time he grabbed my bag and ran away."

She said her purse contained credit cards and $140 in cash.

Teja said she hollered for help after the robbers took off, but none of her neighbors came outside. The mother of two adult children said it was the third time she had been mugged since moving to the neighborhood almost eight years ago.

Teja described her attackers as two boys wearing "do-rag" headwear — a simple cloth tied at the back to cover the head — and dark clothing, Urquhart said. Teja said one of the boys was about 3 feet tall and the other was at least 4 feet tall. On Monday, she told a reporter that one of her attackers wore green pants and the other had blue pants.

Urquhart said finding the two people responsible could be difficult because of the differences in the descriptions.

Even if the children are found, prosecution might be unlikely depending on their ages.

Under state law, a child younger than 8 years old is presumed incapable of committing a crime. If a child is between 8 and 12 years old, state law presumes the youngster is incapable of understanding an act was wrong unless prosecutors can clearly prove otherwise.

"We are concerned about the number of young people, teenagers, who are coming up with guns," Urquhart said.

He said that he's never heard of a 7-year-old mugging an adult at gunpoint in King County. "Now, was it a real gun? She thought it was, so we're operating on that basis," he said.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 25,340 juveniles were arrested for robbery in 2004, the most recent year for which data is available. About 24 percent of them were under the age of 15.

Anyone who has information on the reported robbery is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 206-296-3311.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com