Young girls arrested for plotting stabbing

A planned assault by two 12-year-old girls with knives was foiled early Wednesday morning when the Hanford Police Department was alerted to a conspiracy to attack a local juvenile. The female victim, who was not named due to her status as a juvenile, contacted the Hanford Police Department on Tuesday night just before midnight to report that two girls were planning to "assault and stab her," according to police reports.

Officers responding to the 800 block of South Harris Street searched the immediate area and reportedly found two large kitchen knives hidden nearby, believed to have been planted by the suspects.

Just after 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, the two would-be attackers returned to the area and started trying to lure the victim outside. A perimeter was established around the area and officers arrested the girls.

Both suspects were booked into the Kings County Juvenile Center on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a criminal offense and attempted assault with a deadly weapon.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2425.

(Aug. 28, 2008)