Posted on 12/07/2006 2:35:06 AM PST by Mrs Ivan
An American mother had her 12-year-old son arrested for opening his Christmas present early.
Brandi Ervin called the police after discovering that the youngster had repeatedly disobeyed her by taking a Nintendo Game Boy from its hiding place at his great-grandmother's house and played with it.
Officers in Columbia, South Carolina, handcuffed the boy and took him to the police station on petty larceny charges.
Mrs Ervin, who picked her son up after church, said she had done it to teach him a lesson.
"He's been going through life doing things... and getting away with it," she explained.
She added that the boy had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the last year, but that his medicine did not seem to be helping.
He has been suspended from school since allegedly trying to hit a police officer there last month, and faces an expulsion hearing.
Local juvenile justice officials will decide what happens to him.
Mrs Ervin said she hoped he could attend a programme that would stop him misbehaving.
"It's not even about the Christmas present," she said.
"I only want positive things out of it... There's no need for him to act this way.
"I'd rather call (the police) myself than someone else call for him doing something worse than this."
And who's fault is that?
Bizarre.
Must be one of those crazy Christians... /s
But, seriously, why on earth the officer had to handcuff a 12-yr old boy for finding and opening an early Christmas present?
When I was 11 years old I found my Christmas presents and all my parents did was cancel Christmas that year.
Makes me feel lucky now that they didn't call the cops on me.
Apparently he takes after his dad.
Stupid woman.
She should be facing 30 days in the big house.
The reason and purpose for the police is a bit more important and noble than taking care of the mess she can't control at home.
Sad. The idiocy in the world amazes me everyday.
I bet he's sttin around the house playing that GameBoy right now!
OK, how the &%$# can it be considered "larceny" for the kid to play with his own gift? Does the gift have to be officially "given" before ownership is transferred?
The law is an ass, and all involved in this story are no better;)
No dad in the picture?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.