Posted on 03/02/2002 11:52:59 AM PST by What Is Ain't
An 8-year-old Whitmore Lake boy is facing criminal charges for pointing a toy gun at three other youngsters and threatening to shoot them.
Even though the incident involved a toy gun, the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office said, Tommy Davis' intent was to threaten and scare the other children. The boy, who was 7 at the time of the incident, has a hearing on three felonious assault charges next week in Washtenaw County Juvenile Court.
"I think it's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," said Lisa Davis, Tommy's mother. "This is a waste of taxpayers' money. I didn't think it was against the law to have a toy gun. Doesn't the police department have anything better to do than to take complaints from kids who have a dispute with other kids?"
Davis said her son had several run-ins with one of the children before the Dec. 6 incident that occurred after school in their Northfield Estates Mobile home community park.
Northfield Township Police Lt. Dennis Gruschow said the age of an individual does not prevent an investigation when a complaining witness wants to pursue prosecution.
"The police department must investigate allegations of any type of criminal offense," Gruschow said. "We turn over what we have to the prosecutor's office and they make the call on whether to charge an individual."
Children as young as 7 can be charged based on a Michigan Court of Appeals decision, said Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecutor Donald Ray, who heads the prosecutor's office at Juvenile Court.
The court holds that a child under 7 is not able to form an intent to commit a crime, but a 7-year-old child can form the intent and therefore can be charged.
Tommy told The News that on the day of the incident, he and a friend were riding their bikes to another part of the mobile home park when he saw the three children. He said he took the gun out of his pocket.
"I just pointed the gun at them," he recalled this week. "I don't know if I said anything bad at them, but they got scared."
A Northfield Township police report said the three children, two of whom were 7 and one 6, were on Turquoise Drive, near Barker Road, when Tommy Davis "pulled out a gun and pointed it at them and said he was going to shoot them."
Tommy Davis, according to the report, said he never told the children he was going to shoot or kill them, but did tell one of them, "don't fight me anymore."
An adult resident driving by saw a child pull a gun "from underneath his jacket and point it at the other children," the report said. The witness saw one child lying on the ground and another with hands raised in the air. When the child with the gun saw the adult, he ran away. The witness, who went over to the children, said one was "crying hysterically saying he was going to shoot us."
Tommy Davis is charged with three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon. For adults, the maximum penalty for the charge carries up to four years in prison. For juveniles, it's up to the judge's discretion.
Ray said the boy could get anything from probation to a stay in juvenile detention.
No offense to Mr. Gibson, whom I respect greatly, but he probably knows about as much as the search for bin Laden as Barbra Streisand does about the environment...
Ah yes, the thought police are at it again.
When did it become a crime to scare someone?
You are so right Harrison. Just this morning I was discussing with my wife how many of the kids today are becoming unable to handle real life. A kid dies and an army of shrinks decend on the school to help them through their grief. Result: We now have young adults that are incappable of handling death.In my office their are young people who have not attended their own grandparents funerals because they "don't like funerals" (as if anyone did)
We teach our kids that there is no right or wrong answer, how they feel about it is what's important. Result: The boss criticizes a young adult, and they are beside themselves with anger.
And this stuff is just the beginning. The good part is, the kids that are being taught the real facts of life are the ones who'll be the leaders tomorrow, and hopefully, my boys will be with of them.
"Nothing these fanatics hate worse than an e-mail and telephone campaign indicating that people will not stand for this kind of tyranny. Rats like to hide and operate in dark places." - OsinskiEXCELLENT idea!
Here is a good place to start:
Ramona L. Fernandez, Senior Assistant Prosecuting Attorney
Anne Lerini, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney
Juvenile Court:
Juvenile delinquency, child abuse and neglect proceedings
Brian L. Mackie, Prosecuting Attorney
[e-mail address for]
Donald G. Ray [rayd@co.washtenaw.mi.us], First Assistant Prosecuting Attorney
Shall we FReep Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Donald Ray?
Just cite any of the numerous examples, such as this child being arrested. . .along with the warning. . .
"This is your mind on Liberalism". . .
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