A New Iberia teenager has been arrested for the third time in two months for stealing a vehicle from a local automobile dealership.

Iberia Parish Sheriff Sid Hebert said a black, 2000 Toyota RAV4 was taken from the lot of Musson Patout Used Cars on Louisiana 14 Saturday. The vehicle had been traded in on Friday.

Hebert said the key to the vehicle was taken from the dealership’s office. A rear window to the office was broken into.

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Hebert said about two hours later, deputies received a complaint of a speeding vehicle on Olivier Road. The vehicle was spotted parked outside a residence at 3616 Olivier Road, but it had not been reported stolen at the time.

Deputies returned to the home moments after the vehicle was reported stolen. A resident said two boys had just left in the vehicle.

Deputies located the 15-year-old at his grandmother’s home at 6205 E. Admiral Doyle Drive. A 14-year-old was located at 409 Copper St.

Hebert said the 15-year-old admitted stealing the vehicle with the 14-year-old as his passenger. Both boys were arrested and released to the custody of their parents.

The vehicle was found parked in a garage of an abandoned home. It was returned to the dealership undamaged.

Hebert said the theft marked the third time the 15-year-old had been arrested for stealing vehicles from local dealerships.

He was arrested March 24 after 10 vehicles were stolen from Arceneaux Ford in New Iberia and Lapeyrouse Motors in Jeanerette.

The teenager was arrested again on April 17 after five more vehicles were stolen from Arceneaux Ford and J.P. Thibodeaux.

Five other suspects — ranging from 14 to 19 years of age — have been arrested in the thefts, but only one has been arrested more than once.

“This is a very rare set of circumstances — a child like this habitually doing the same thing over and over again,” Hebert said. “We’ve been able to gut that group, but he’s the only one, for whatever his personal reasons are, that has refused to give up.”

The boy’s mother, Matilda Trahan, said her son is enrolled in special education classes. She said he has the mind of a 5-year-old.

“He doesn’t know the difference between stealing a piece of gum and stealing an automobile,” she said.

“Every two or three weeks, he does this. He lives inside a game. He only makes it to the first level, but he does it over and over again.”

Trahan said she is frustrated with her son, but also with the court system. She said he has yet to go before a judge on any of the charges.

“I’ve been asking the system for help, and they have not given me help yet,” she said.

Trahan said she has been told her son cannot be placed in a traditional juvenile detention home due to his mental condition. She said she hopes he can be placed in an alternative facility before he commits another crime.

“I need the people above me to give me a push,” she said. “I know he’s gonna go away for quite a while, but I’d rather see him go to a place where they’re going to help him.”

Hebert said both boys had to be released due to a shortage of bed space in juvenile facilities in the state. He said there are only 500 juvenile beds statewide, and not all facilities will accept pre-trial detainees.

“Talk about frustrating,” he said.

Musson Patout manager Blaine Dugas said there have been a handful of break-ins at his dealership within the past six months, but he did not know whether they were all linked to the same group.

He said he hopes both boys involved in the most recent incident are prosecuted.

“I’m gonna see that they will spend time in jail,” he said.

Dugas said the dealership is taking extra steps to make sure the thefts don’t happen again, but declined to be more specific.