Police arrest, handcuff 7-year-old on dirt bike

[JI7]

<BALTIMORE - Police arrested a 7-year-old boy, handcuffed him and hauled him down to the station house on a charge of riding a motorized dirt bike on a sidewalk.

Then, according to his mother, Gerard Mungo Jr. was handcuffed to a bench and interrogated before being released to his parents.

"They scared me," Gerard told The Baltimore Examiner before breaking down in tears.

Mayor Sheila Dixon apologized Friday for the arrest, and police commissioner Leonard Hamm said it would be investigated internally.

The arrest came after an officer saw Gerard riding his dirt bike on the sidewalk in east Baltimore on Tuesday, police spokesman Matt Jablow said. Hamm, citing the internal probe, declined to discuss how the rest of the incident unfolded. >


http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/national/article/0,1406,KNS_350_5424017,00.html

[Trillo]

1. If they won't do that to the President and his cronies,

the little chickenshits shouldn't be doing it to children.

Yes, children need to learn how to get along in society. They do not need chickenhearted thugs on an ego trip giving them memories of cruelty they will never forget and that will likely create future dysfunction.

Jesus, I get on DU by accident, clicked the wrong link in my bookmarks, and the first story I read makes me so mad I have to leave.

[orleans]

2. yes, those 7 year olds can be so unruly at times

[sam sarrha]

3. standard procedure.. if they let him run off and get killed in the street you would really be pissed

this is an unattended child riding a motorcycle on the sidewalk... sorry but paper work has to be done for social services and child protection people.. cant lock him in a room due to fire laws, i personally wouldn't take responsibility for a child flight risk.. he runs out and a pedophile picks him up kills him.. you would have me in jail cuffed to the bench.

i have been a Juvenile Parole officer.. i dont see the problem, the consequences of doing anything else could be dangerous to the child. if the parents want to be mad at someone.. the child is responsible for this situation.. CPS needs to know if he is fetal alcohol or something or parents have a history of neglect, or need a history for appropriate care of a child.

i wouldnt want to fight with a histerical child and get bitten or charged with abuse for a mark on him due to his behavior

if they dont want him in jail.. then take care of him

[scavenger]

5. blame the kid

With your line of reasoning the 6 year old kid that was murdered by child molesters in Ga. was his own fault.
He should have knew better, and his parents should have kept him locked in his room

You're part of the problem, not the solution.

[gbate]

15. Well, if you're going to bring that up, 6 year olds should be supervised by a competent adult

at all times and it may very well be the parents' fault that a child molester got a hold of this little boy.

[Ian David]

7. Why is a 7 year old given access to a motorized vehicle? n/t

[rebel with a cause]

10. I believe it is the parents fault.

At seven years old, the parent should be aware of where the child is and what he is doing. If he was at a friend's house, then the friend's parents are at fault. At no time is a seven year old responsible on his own. If so, lets give him a driver's license and let him be totally responsible. (a stupid example but didn't want to spend time coming up with a better one)

[CC]

13. They didn't arrest him

at the scene though they did take his bike. They arrested him after his mother called about what happened.

Edited to add, well according to this story she was there. Last night on 11 it sounded like she called after the kid went home.

I do not agree with what the cops did but I also think it was stupid to get a 7 year old a motorized bike in a city.

[RC]

4. Law suite time. The city needs to pay for the kids collage education.

Kikisa Dinkins said her son was sitting on the bike with the motor off on the sidewalk when an officer grabbed him by the collar and pulled him off.

"I told them to let go of my baby," Dinkins said. "Since when do you pull a 7-year-old child by his neck and drag him?"

Dinkins said she called for a police supervisor to intervene, but the confrontation continued to escalate after the supervisor arrived.

"They started yelling at him, 'Do you know what you did wrong, son?' " Dinkins said.

Police arrested Gerard and confiscated the bike.

[rebel with a cause]

11. Posted before I read this or the whole article.

This is definitely the polices fault. If a parent was present, only a warning and an explaining of the law to that parent was necessary. The child should never have been touched. Yeah, sue the buggers.

[saigon68]

14. And that they are

Buggers

[youngdem]

6. Let me take a WILD guess as to the race of the child and the race of the pig

Am I right?

Thought so.

This pure racial harassment.

[saigon68]

9. More discipline of the "Dark Ones"

Seven-year old Gerard Mungo Jr. sits back on his living room couch after telling the story of his arrest by the Baltimore City Police Department.



Kikisa Dinkins said her son was sitting on the bike with the motor off on the sidewalk when an officer grabbed him by the collar and pulled him off.

"I told them to let go of my baby," Dinkins said. "Since when do you pull a 7-year-old child by his neck and drag him?" Dinkins said she was incensed after the police pulled Gerard up by his collar and dragged him off the bike.

Dinkins said she called for a police supervisor to intervene, but the confrontation continued to escalate after the supervisor arrived. "They started yelling at him, 'Do you know what you did wrong, son?' " Dinkins said. Police arrested Gerard and confiscated the bike.

[AngryAmish]

8. Way to go, Bush!

[MLFerrell]

12. God Bless America...

May racism and police state thuggery reign across the country.

:sarcasm: