Photo: nebraska.tv.com
A 9-year-old boy is giving police officers in central Nebraska severe headaches after stealing 2 cars in the space of 2 days and then acting out against the cops during arrest.
“Arrest” isn’t even the most accurate word, because police can’t arrest him: the law in Nebraska says that a juvenile must be at least 11 in order to be prosecuted for his crimes as a juvenile. This boy is 9, so the cops had to release him to his parents’ custody with just a handful of citations.
The first incident happened last Sunday in Grand Island, Nebraska, the Omaha World-Herald reports. Someone called the police because the boy was riding his bike in the middle of the street and acting strange. When a unit arrived and summoned him to pull over and get off, he refused and sped away.
Cops found the bike abandoned and a man told them that a kid had just stolen his 2007 Honda Civic. He had left it unlocked and with the keys in the ignition, thinking no one would think of taking it from his driveway.
But this boy did.
The kid crashed the car into a home and then locked himself inside it. When cops arrived and summoned him to get out, he started swearing at them, and even spit at and used racial insults for one of the officers. When they got him out, they found a folding knife on him.
The kid was cited for motor vehicle theft, carrying a concealed weapon, assault on an officer and flight to avoid arrest, according to the publication. Though Grand Island Police Capt. Jim Duering says he’s never seen a juvenile this young and with “this level of hostility,” they had to let him go.
Two days later, the same kid stole a Jeep Cherokee from outside a pizza place, drove it for a while and abandoned it, The Grand Island Independent says. Police took him in again and released him, but are planning to charge him with willful reckless driving, flight to avoid arrest, no headlights, and a stop sign violation.
“We did take him into physical custody, but I think he ended up being referred and returned to the house,” Capt. Jim Duering explains. “That is the big issue; juvenile institutions won’t take him because he is too young.”
Police are looking to see if they can hold the parents responsible for the kid’s crimes but for that to happen, they have to prove they’re not doing anything to stop him.
“We are not going to chase stolen cars and 9-year-olds every day because that is dangerous. I do not think the solution lies fully in the hands of the Police Department,” Duering adds. “We are going to have to work with some other agencies on this and come up with something.”
The first incident happened last Sunday in Grand Island, Nebraska, the Omaha World-Herald reports. Someone called the police because the boy was riding his bike in the middle of the street and acting strange. When a unit arrived and summoned him to pull over and get off, he refused and sped away.
Cops found the bike abandoned and a man told them that a kid had just stolen his 2007 Honda Civic. He had left it unlocked and with the keys in the ignition, thinking no one would think of taking it from his driveway.
But this boy did.
The kid crashed the car into a home and then locked himself inside it. When cops arrived and summoned him to get out, he started swearing at them, and even spit at and used racial insults for one of the officers. When they got him out, they found a folding knife on him.
The kid was cited for motor vehicle theft, carrying a concealed weapon, assault on an officer and flight to avoid arrest, according to the publication. Though Grand Island Police Capt. Jim Duering says he’s never seen a juvenile this young and with “this level of hostility,” they had to let him go.
Two days later, the same kid stole a Jeep Cherokee from outside a pizza place, drove it for a while and abandoned it, The Grand Island Independent says. Police took him in again and released him, but are planning to charge him with willful reckless driving, flight to avoid arrest, no headlights, and a stop sign violation.
“We did take him into physical custody, but I think he ended up being referred and returned to the house,” Capt. Jim Duering explains. “That is the big issue; juvenile institutions won’t take him because he is too young.”
Police are looking to see if they can hold the parents responsible for the kid’s crimes but for that to happen, they have to prove they’re not doing anything to stop him.
“We are not going to chase stolen cars and 9-year-olds every day because that is dangerous. I do not think the solution lies fully in the hands of the Police Department,” Duering adds. “We are going to have to work with some other agencies on this and come up with something.”
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