Posted on 05/23/2006 11:33:08 PM PDT by freespirited
An 8-year-old boy who climbed into a parked school bus, released the emergency brake and sent 26,000 pounds of steel rolling through Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on Monday was charged yesterday with criminally negligent homicide in the death of Amber Sadiq, 8...
The boy, Tafari James, had been suspended from second grade on Friday for climbing onto another unattended bus, ... Investigators said it was unclear whether he released the brake on Monday intentionally. Witnesses saw him board the bus alone... He rode the bus as it gathered speed down a slight incline and jump off as it thudded to a halt after traveling 100 feet, police said.
Judge Maureen McLeod ordered Tafari detained ... Officials said in interviews that they have not decided whether to pursue the charges that had already been filed and must first investigate the boy's history and the case's circumstances...
A police detective, Brian Gregory, testified that the charges were based on Tafari's statements at a precinct station house.
"He saw a parked bus," Detective Gregory said. "He entered a parked bus. He wanted to drive the bus. The bus started to move. He got scared. He saw a crossing guard jumping up and down. The bus stopped after hitting a pole."
Detective Gregory added, "He was trying to move the wheels with his hands and the pedals with his feet."...
During this school year, Ms. Lawton said, Tafari has been absent 40 times and late 14 times. His school has called the Administration for Children's Services to report inadequate guardianship. He is not allowed on school trips and has been found wandering around Crown Heights unsupervised. Ms. Lawton did not say where Tafari attends school, and Tafari 's lawyer said he did not know.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
"During this school year, Ms. Lawton said, Tafari has been absent 40 times and late 14 times. His school has called the Administration for Children's Services to report inadequate guardianship. He is not allowed on school trips and has been found wandering around Crown Heights unsupervised."
Seems to me the ones charged should be the parents.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!
THE FEAR!
I guess 26,000 lb is a LOT more than 13 tons. All I know is it's not more than 14 Kilotons.
Somebody needs a belt across their butt that isn't involved with suspending their pants. Kids should wear stripes rather regularly.
Amber Sadiq and Tafari James - any relation to the 2 Arabs who boarded the school bus in Florida?????
I see LOTS of Tafari's destroying the place every time I go to Wal-Mart. Last Christmas the store looked like a tornado had swept through it. The whole time the destruction is taking place the parents are either totally oblivious or are constantly issuing orders that the little monsters are totally immune to and totally ignore. I would not be alive today if I had ever done 1% of the stuff I routinely see kids doing these days - my parents would have beaten me to death on the spot for publicly humiliating them by acting like a crazed savage.
Thanks for your assinine comment.
Believe me, I, as a teacher, have seen a LOT of that sort of behavior and, I'm with you, I would have died young if I had acted the way some of these children do.
I'm retired now, but I feel sorry for these youngsters' teachers. Can you imagine being trapped in a room with 20 to 30 youngsters this age, and half of them are acting like this little boy? It's a wonder our children learn anything!!
"Thanks for your assinine comment."
You are welcome - thanks for yours.
You're right. This kid is EIGHT YEARS OLD, with what looks like zero supervision.
But I'll bet you a book of food stamps there's only ONE "parent." And that that one is disengaged.
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