Police Arrest 7-Year-Old on Dirt Bike

Police arrested a 7-year-old boy, handcuffed him and hauled him down to the station house on a charge of riding a motorized dirt bike on a sidewalk.

[Barry G Smith]

This is just another example of action by overzealous cops under orders starting with panicky politicos! After years of flying on airlines all over the world, I was totally turned off flying in August when I was treated rudely by airport "Homeland Security" rent-a-fuzz and made to feel like a terrorist and crimanal!
This lack of professionalism is NO WONDER that there is little or no respect for law enforcement here in the "Good 'ol USA (quoted by Barney Fife!)!"

[Sitting and Watching]

If the cops where so right, then why don't they state the names of the big bad 7yo ass kicking cops. That way the officer's neighbors can truly appreciate the scum living near them.

[RJM]

DIRT BIKES ARE AGAINST THE LAW ON A CITY STREET.YOU SEE THEM RIDE DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD ALL THE TIME.ITS ABOUT TIME THE COPS DID SOMETHING.

[Ed2day]

RJM wrote:

DIRT BIKES ARE AGAINST THE LAW ON A CITY STREET.YOU SEE THEM RIDE DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD ALL THE TIME.ITS ABOUT TIME THE COPS DID SOMETHING.

RJM, this was a little kid on a little kids dirt bike. Not the kind that you see them fools ridin around on. The police won't even go after these a*sholes but arrest a 7 year old? Ridiculous!

[Concerned Mother]

Wonder if it would have happened had it been in another neighborhood...say in Carroll County? I agree...it is this type of behavior from cops that has declined the amount of respect towards the law enforcement...Praise to the Firemen.

[Concerned Mother]

RJM wrote:

DIRT BIKES ARE AGAINST THE LAW ON A CITY STREET.YOU SEE THEM RIDE DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD ALL THE TIME.ITS ABOUT TIME THE COPS DID SOMETHING.

I guess had it been your 7 year old...it would be a different story...and don't say that if it was he would have gotten what he deserved, because you would be lying.

[Will]

RJM wrote:

DIRT BIKES ARE AGAINST THE LAW ON A CITY STREET.YOU SEE THEM RIDE DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD ALL THE TIME.ITS ABOUT TIME THE COPS DID SOMETHING.

I completely agree with RJM.

In addition, the PARENTS had the gall to appear on local news broadcasts and to even organize a puny protest in downtown Baltimore against the police commisioner -- BUT WHERE WERE THE PARENTS BEFORE?

The sorry fact is that the boy's parents had to have BOUGHT the dirt bike and ALLOWED the boy to be on the street with the dirt bike in the first place, NOT that parental knowledge and approval can AUTHORIZE the boy's illegal act in any event.

It is the job of the parents to see to it that their son is not engaging in activity whose legality is, at best, QUESTIONABLE.

Instead of using the incident involving their son as a teaching moment to reinforce abiding by lawful behavior, the parents take it as an affront to their supposed freedom to authorize their son to engage in conduct of questionable legality.

Society suffers enough from the effects of bad parenting. I for one am glad that the police took the action that it did so that maybe the 7-year-old is "scared straight".

[Miss Krystal]

well said,will.

[David]

The general public will get tired of cops playing god , and they will take care of the problem. This is a good example of a good lawsuit. The parent of this chid should sue the department. Any lawyer will take ths case. Its an easy win for any attorney.

[David]

RJM wrote:

DIRT BIKES ARE AGAINST THE LAW ON A CITY STREET.YOU SEE THEM RIDE DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD ALL THE TIME.ITS ABOUT TIME THE COPS DID SOMETHING.

Read the article again moron. The kid was on the sidewalk. Are they going to arrest skateboarders and bikers next?

[David]

RJM wrote:

DIRT BIKES ARE AGAINST THE LAW ON A CITY STREET.YOU SEE THEM RIDE DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD ALL THE TIME.ITS ABOUT TIME THE COPS DID SOMETHING.

When I was about 9 years old , I had a dirt bike I use to ride all over my neighborhood. When the typical prick would call the law dogs , they would just tell me to take it home and park it. If this would have happened to me , I am sure the cop would have gotten his ass kicked one way or the other in my neighborhood.

[Will]

The attitude of David in Kingsport, TN is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Attitudes of people like David are why society in general has to resort to calling "the law dogs" -- it is because people who share David's attitude don't self-police their own actions, out of consideration for the rights and responsibities of others, that outside enforcement by the police is necessary.

[Will]

Here's a followup to the story that probably didn't make the national news media the way the initial story did, but which gives greater perspective on the kind of people the boy's parents are.

Baltimore City police recently arrested the 7-year-old boy's mother because she confronted the police and created a disturbance as the police were in hot pursuit of one of the mothers' relatives, who was a street-selling drug suspect.

And now, as they say, "you know the REST of the story" about what kind of parents the 7-year-old boy has.

[Nikki M]

David wrote:

<quoted text>
When I was about 9 years old , I had a dirt bike I use to ride all over my neighborhood. When the typical prick would call the law dogs , they would just tell me to take it home and park it. If this would have happened to me , I am sure the cop would have gotten his ass kicked one way or the other in my neighborhood.

I am so sure.

[hotdogs]

David wrote:

<quoted text>
When I was about 9 years old , I had a dirt bike I use to ride all over my neighborhood. When the typical prick would call the law dogs , they would just tell me to take it home and park it. If this would have happened to me , I am sure the cop would have gotten his ass kicked one way or the other in my neighborhood.

ok tough guy simmer down. you sound like you got bodys laying everywhere. for one the little bastard shouldt be riding a motorcycle without supervision. second you dont ride them on public roads. the police are tired of the goofy kids. a seven year old knows right from wrong. i wouldnt have arested him i would have ripped him of that bike and beat his ass . thats all he needs. then take the motor cycle and sell it...

[Bruce Brown MD FACC]

Ed2day wrote:

<quoted text> Will - I couldn't agree with you more! I'm so tired of folks blaming others for their not being responsible. If these parents would not allow their kids to break the law by condoning their actions we may make some progress to civilized society.

READ THE WHOLE STORY BEFORE JUMPING TO CONLCUSIONS. According to the Baltimore PD-(who never lie of course) the police saw a teenage boy 'engaging in illegal street based drug activity'(code for selling drugs on the corner) who then ran away when the police id'd themselves. They then kicked in the door to the house where they thought they saw the boy enter. What they found when they got inside was a group of middle aged adults, not a drug den. They then searched the house and (according to the police) found NO DRUGS and made no arrests except the mother of the 7 year old 'police kidnapping victim'.
Two obvious questions 1) Why were there no drugs found and no arrests made except for the mother of the 7 year old?----and
2) "When will the public start taking real action against those police officers who use their badges as an excuse to abuse and bully people? These actions are against the law and there will be no respoect for law enforcement until the law enforcement agencies act in a legal manner.

[Will]

Bruce Brown MD FACC wrote:

<quoted text>READ THE WHOLE STORY BEFORE JUMPING TO CONLCUSIONS. According to the Baltimore PD-(who never lie of course) the police saw a teenage boy 'engaging in illegal street based drug activity'(code for selling drugs on the corner) who then ran away when the police id'd themselves. They then kicked in the door to the house where they thought they saw the boy enter. What they found when they got inside was a group of middle aged adults, not a drug den. They then searched the house and (according to the police) found NO DRUGS and made no arrests except the mother of the 7 year old 'police kidnapping victim'.
Two obvious questions 1) Why were there no drugs found and no arrests made except for the mother of the 7 year old?----and
2) "When will the public start taking real action against those police officers who use their badges as an excuse to abuse and bully people? These actions are against the law and there will be no respoect for law enforcement until the law enforcement agencies act in a legal manner.

1) Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Even here in Baltimore, houses have back doors and back windows where a kid familiar with the house -- and its supportive occupants -- can make good his escape with his stash in his hand, pocket or shoe.

The mother's arrest had more to do with her getting into a confrontation with the police, never a wise thing to do under the circumstances.

2) It is just as wrong to suggest that the police ALWAYS lie, as it is to suggest that the police "never lie". Of course, SOME police lie SOME of the time. But it is an OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT of drug sellers to lie and they do lie -- MOST of the time.

So when it comes down to who has the greater credibility, the percentages favor the police telling the truth about anything more often than your neighborhood drug sellers telling the truth about anything. That's why, when an issue of public safety arises, most people feel more comfortable calling the police to address it, rather than calling the neighborhood drug seller.

[que]

the bad thing about this incident is that throughout the year, the motorcycle gangs that ride the streets in packs of five or more, ride up and down most urban areas of Baltimore city. East,north, south and west. Not a time that I have I seen this that there was any interference from the man in blue.
Why?? If memory serves me right, there was supposedly a legal issue with chasing these knuckleheads due to supposed thereat of law suits and other type of legal issues. either way it was wrong.

[Will]

Good point, que. Hotdogs mentioned the solution of taking the bikes away and selling them, and I believe that the City has a law on the books that authorizes just that, but the 2 main problems are 1) catching the bikers or tracking them down, and 2) avoiding lawsuits from the knuckleheads because they are likely to get hurt or to hurt others while attempting to avoid capture.

The problem is not limited to just drag races on streets and highways by the bigger cycles; the minicycles are also used by drug runners to travel between drug corners.

If these problems get bad enough, I'd favor a state law exempting law enforcement from civil and criminal liability for injuries resulting from REASONABLE efforts to catch bikers engaged in illegal activity. I'd also favor paying a reward to people who supplied information to help police locate the bikes; the reward fund could be created from the sale of confiscated bikes.

From what I've seen, these bikers often play cat-and-mouse with the police, quickly stashing the bike in the basement or garage after 15 or 20 minutes of creating a nuisance on the streets -- just long enough to wait out the police who might have been called, before starting up again. The bikers also often have lookouts.

So, if the nuisances get bad enough, there are some things that can be done to get a handle on the problems when people get fed up enough.

[Will]

LOL, there must be a full moon somewhere.