Police Arrest 7-Year-Old on Dirt Bike

BALTIMORE (AP) - Police arrested a 7-year-old boy, handcuffed him and took his mug shot and fingerprints on a charge of riding a motorized dirt bike on a sidewalk. Police Arrest 7-Year-Old on Dirt Bike

Friday March 16, 2007 4:01 PM

BALTIMORE (AP) - Police arrested a 7-year-old boy,
handcuffed him and took his mug shot and fingerprints
on a charge of riding a motorized dirt bike on a
sidewalk.

At the station, Gerard Mungo Jr. was handcuffed to a
bench and interrogated before being released to his
parents.

``They scared me,'' Gerard told The Baltimore Examiner
before breaking down in tears.

The arrest came after an officer saw Gerard riding his
dirt bike on the sidewalk in east Baltimore on
Tuesday, police spokesman Matt Jablow said.

The boy's mother, Kikisa Dinkins, said he was sitting
on the bike with the motor off on the sidewalk when an
officer grabbed him by the collar and pulled him off.

``I told them to let go of my baby,'' Dinkins said.
``Since when do you pull a 7-year-old child by his
neck and drag him?''

Dinkins said she called for a police supervisor to
intervene, but the confrontation continued to escalate
after the supervisor arrived.

``They started yelling at him, 'Do you know what you
did wrong, son?''' Dinkins said. ``He was so scared he
ran upstairs.''

Police arrested Gerard and confiscated the bike.

The incident brought new heat on a department already
under fire for what critics call unnecessary arrests.

Police commissioner Leonard Hamm said in a statement
that although the city has an ongoing concern about
the nuisance of dirt bikes, the arrest ``was not
consistent with my philosophy of trying to solve
problems in the neighborhoods.''

Mayor Sheila Dixon said she planned to look into the
case. ``As a mother and as a parent, I am bothered by
it,'' she said.

Dinkins said the incident scarred her son. ``This has
changed his life,'' she said. ``He'll never be the
same.''

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6485809,00.html