Posted on 08/11/2004 7:22:50 AM PDT by Hemingway's Ghost
A pair of baby-faced Whitman boys, busted on a public street for illegal skateboarding, were arrested, booked and shackled before being hauled into a Brockton juvenile court to face charges, the children's irate parents said yesterday.
``It's absurd,'' mother Stephanie Saltzman said. ``My son is 12 years old and all he was doing is skateboarding. I mean, you gotta be kidding me.''
Saltzman's son, Josh, and 14-year-old neighbor, Ryan Maxwell, were arrested Aug. 3 when a Whitman police officer caught them skateboading on South Avenue. A town bylaw prohibits using skateboards or other devices to ``coast or slide'' along public streets.
Town officials would not comment on the specifics of the case yesterday, but they said police would not arrest kids unless their illegal actions were more severe than simply skateboarding.
``They would have to be doing something that causes it to rise to that level,'' Town Administrator Frank Lynam said. ``It's at the discretion of the officer to determine whether an arrest should be made.''
Dean Leavitt, the officer who collared the rosy-cheeked boys, declined to comment yesterday.
The boys insisted they were merely skateboarding in front of their homes when an officer took their boards and ordered them into the back of his car. They said they complied without any protest.
``I couldn't believe it was happening over skateboarding,'' Josh Saltzman said. ``We have too many cops that have nothing to do in this town.''
The boys said they were booked at the police station and then driven to Brockton Juvenile Court, where they were locked in a cell for two hours before being led into a courtroom with shackles around their wrists and ankles.
Michael Maxwell, Ryan's father, said he raced to court to pick up his son after he was told the boy would be held overnight if he did not arrive before 3:30 p.m.
``I was sitting in court when they called out his name and I could see his hands and hear the jingling as he walked,'' Maxwell said. ``To arrest a child for riding on a board? I don't know what that serves.''
The boys were ordered to perform 15 hours of community service before Nov. 1.
Town officials said they have had numerous incidents involving skateboarders jumping off library steps, weaving through traffic and creating other disturbances. They say they are trying to find a suitable location for a skateboard park.
The article's main take is from the rose cheeked boys. It would be a good idea to hear the policeman's take on this situation.
But hey, telling one lopsided version of the story sure gets alot of knees a'jerkin.
How about we get back to sane laws and police that are not a pseudo-military. Then we can address the Very Serious Problem of sk8rz.
I teach my kids to avoid police if at all possible. Do not talk to them, do not do anything that will bring you in contact with them. And NEVER EVER EVER volunteer ANY information to anyone associated with any level of government.
how timely this post...
"You can take away the computer/phone/TV or whatever but that is nothing in comparison."
If they have a skateboard, this is the ultimate lever. Our middle school actually allows skateboards on their premises and can be carried around like a book! Fer-get about it... My husband has eliminated this problem...
Teenagers, the best of the worst, and the worst of the best...?
Best to you.. ba7
OK, I'll bite, what are "sane laws?" And, haven't police always been "pseudo-military?"
We used to build half-pipes in our yards but I realize street skating is a little different. Our county built a public skate park to get the skaters away from the streets and other parks. It's always packed. VANS has a skate park in ORL that is doing well. Maybe it's how they are designed - a skate park designed by Tony Hawk or Bucky would probably be on par with a Jack Nickluas golf course.
"Tony Hawk "
Gotta love a guy who won't grow up and makes mega millions a year selling his gear/games/etc.
A pack of skate rats destroyed several hundred dollars worth of playground equipment at the day care facility my son attends. This despite "No Trespassing" signs and a fence around the playground as well as "No Skateboarding" signs all over the shopping center in which it is located.
These clowns regularly damage property, menace pedestrians and create traffic hazards on the sidewalks and in the parking lot.
Sorry to all those who say, "Skateboarding is not a crime," but it is if it endangers other people.
Sane laws are the ones against violent and serious property crime. One symptom of our current insanity is that solution rates are atrociously low, and declining.
As for the "pseudo military" thing, how many SWAT teams and police snipers do you think are needed, versus the number we now have?
It only sounds parroted because it is such an unusual thought. Where in the public school curriculum do you think you will find a chapter on how to reduce the size of government?
That's accurate.
I was working off duty at a new port site that was just built. One of the things they wanted us to watch out for were the skate rats. When I pulled up one of them was skating down a handrail. He wiped out at the bottom and his skateboard broke. He picked up what was left of the skateboard and began slamming it against the hand rail.
I cited him in for criminal damaging. His parents called me and asked me what happened. I told them what I saw. Naturally it was a different story from what their son painted for them.
He ended up having to do community service.
I didn't cuff him but I did sit him in the back of my cruiser until I got his information. Didn't even lock him up when he gave me a fake name. Getting soft in my old age.
TH and Jimmy Buffet are two men (politics aside) that I admire for making a living at what they love. They have created an image, lived it, and got rich in the process.
Why do you assume he hasn't grown up?
Longing for the good ol' days, when Wally and Beaver and Larry and Eddie were playing sandlot baseball in the vacant lot (though a sign on the fence did say "No Tresspassing) . . . then the neighborhood cop would come and taser Wally et al, slap 'em in cuffs, haul them down to the hoosegow, throw them in jail with irons . . .
Ward Cleaver didn't need anyone to teach him how to raise his kids!
He says so himself.
The cop declined to comment. Hmmm.
The psuedo military problem is this, (as I see it and have been told) if an 'incident' occurs and a city does not have a SWAT team, or someone specially trained to handle such an inident, John Edwards and his ilk come to the rescue and sue the pants off of the city for not having a SWAT team.
Oh, okay. I don't know much about Tony Hawk except that he does do some charity work.
"Works better then the Vulcan neck pinch."
LOL
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