Arrested 7-year-old back in the news
The boy arrested sitting atop a dirtbike back in 2007 is back -- his family's lawsuit against the Baltimore Police Department is underway in Howard County Circuit Court.
Justin Fenton of the Baltimore Sun reports that the officer who slapped on the cuffs and caused such a stir testified that he not only followed proper procedure, but he got advice from a prosecutor and he denied arresting the boy to retaliate against his mother for filing an earlier complaint against the department.
The arrest drew criticism from Mayor Shelia Dixon and the police commissioner at the time, Leonard Hamm, and sparked a community debate over how to deal with misbehaving children. Wednesday was the first time we've heard from the cops involved in the arrest of Gerard Mungo Jr.
Justin writes:
"Officer Charles Grimes testified that he was on patrol when he saw a man ride down the block on the dirt bike. When the man turned the corner, he said, he saw "little Gerard" on the bike with the engine idling, and put his foot behind the wheel and asked the boy to climb off. Grimes said the boy hopped off without incident, and Grimes turned off the ignition.
"He called Detective Donald Hayes, who at that time was a neighborhood services officer leading an initiative to confiscate dirt bikes, and Hayes took the vehicle to be impounded. He said Gerard's mother, 33-year-old Lakisa Dinkins, was angry, and he called his supervisor, Sgt. William Colburn, to inform him that a complaint was likely to be filed.
"Hayes testified that Colburn told him, "If she calls, I'm going to order you to come back up there to lock him up."
"The two debated whether it was legal to arrest a 7-year-old, and Colburn testified that he called an unidentified city prosecutor and asked, without providing details of the case, whether it was allowed. The state's attorney told them they could proceed, the officers testified, and Colburn ordered Hayes to make the arrest."
Categories: Courts and the justice system, East Baltimore, Gerard Mungo
Comments
"Officer Charles Grimes testified that he was on patrol when he saw a man ride down the block on the dirt bike.
If he saw a man riding a dirt bike, why did he arrest a boy?
Posted by: Maria | January 14, 2010 9:13 AM
Personally, having almost hit, and been hit, by these little idiots careening around our streets on scooters and dirt-bikes with no tags or license, I'd like to see more arrests and less ignoring the problem. These people have no case, and I hope it gets tossed quickly.
Posted by: JoeW | January 14, 2010 12:44 PM
I'm glad the courts are backing up the police department on this one. This is one of the many problems the city faces and while there are some bad cops, there are many more who take a ton of crap every day to protects us. Let's let them do their jobs.
Posted by: mbcanton | January 15, 2010 10:56 AM
I think maybe the other posters here may have missed one minor detail of the story...
The boy is SEVEN YEARS OLD. SEVEN!
"Little idiots?!"
If a cop made an attempt to arrest my daughter (1 year out of KINDERGARTEN) I would assume they were kidnappers posing as cops - in which case, this would have been a story about 2 cops killing a civilian in order to arrest a child for sitting on a dirtbike.
Arrest the mom. Fine. If it's against the law, it's against the law. But do we really expect a 7 year old boy to know?
Innocent mind destroyed. I hope this family is awarded everything they are seeking times 10.
As for the police officers, I hope for nothing other than worldwide FAME.
Posted by: Jason | May 31, 2010 3:50 PM