Boy, 7, arrested for riding dirt bike on sidewalk

[alexthekidd]

BALTIMORE - 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.

Then, according to his mother, 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.
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Mayor Sheila Dixon apologized Friday for the arrest, and Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm said it would be investigated internally.

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. Hamm, citing the internal probe, declined to discuss how the rest of the incident unfolded.

Kikisa Dinkins said her son 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 is wrong, son?'" Dinkins said. "He was so scared he ran upstairs."

Police arrested Gerard and confiscated the bike.

Dinkins said officers fingerprinted him and took his mug shot. Hamm could not confirm that and said those actions would not have been normal procedure in a non-felony case.

‘He’ll never be the same’
Dinkins said the arrest scarred her son. "This has changed his life," she said. "He'll never be the same."

The Police Department's zero-tolerance arrest policy — begun under former Mayor Martin O'Malley, who is now Maryland's governor — has drawn complaints that such arrests occur most often in poor, black neighborhoods. Gerard is black.

Hamm said the officer had the option of talking with a parent or confiscating the bike. He said that although the city is concerned about nuisance dirt bikes, the arrest "was not consistent with my philosophy of trying to solve problems in the neighborhoods."

The mayor, who appeared Friday with Hamm, said she also planned to look into the case.

"It is clear to me that the arrest was wrong, that the officers on the scene should not have arrested the child, and on behalf of the City of Baltimore I apologize to the boy and his parents," Dixon said.

[scumdog]

Little bastard probably deserved it, the bike's probably stolen too.

[JimO]

i heard he had been stealing bikes since he was 5

[Bonez]

Would it have been different if it was a unmotorised dirt bike question mark, question mark

[sunhuntin]

hell, if hes scarred for life, chances are hell be a fine, upstanding citizen! be too scared to break the law again!

[thehollowmen]

And where were the parents during all of this?

Gah, why are all the stupid people breeding?

[BUNGY]

The Police Department's zero-tolerance arrest policy — begun under former Mayor Martin O'Malley, who is now Maryland's governor — has drawn complaints that such arrests occur most often in poor, black neighborhoods. Gerard is black.



We need this type of thing in New Zealand. Sort the little buggers out while their young.

[Waylander]

hell, if hes scarred for life, chances are hell be a fine, upstanding citizen! be too scared to break the law again!
Sitting on the bike on the sidewalk with the motor off is against the law?

So when my cousin back home washes his bike on the front sidewalk he can be arrested too?

[sunhuntin]

pushbikes on sidewalks are against the law too. so are skateboards. [not sure about over there!]

and waylander...possibly your cousin could, for interrupting the flow of foot traffic. was reading a book [autobiography] a guy nearly got arrested for hosing down the front of his house, creating a hazard.

and hey...if it stops the kid becomming another black statistic, all the better right?

[Waylander]

pushbikes on sidewalks are against the law too. so are skateboards. [not sure about over there!]

and waylander...possibly your cousin could, for interrupting the flow of foot traffic. was reading a book [autobiography] a guy nearly got arrested for hosing down the front of his house, creating a hazard.

and hey...if it stops the kid becomming another black statistic, all the better right?
Fuck that. I rode my pushbike on the sidewalk all the time. Kept me from being run over by asshole cagers. Never had a problem. Granted I'm white so that may be why.

And more than likely the kid will grow up hating the cops and never develop a respect for the law due to this incident and his parrents talking bad about the police and shit. So he'll just be much much worse. than he would have been otherwise.

[sunhuntin]

Fuck that. I rode my pushbike on the sidewalk all the time. Kept me from being run over by asshole cagers. Never had a problem. Granted I'm white so that may be why.

And more than likely the kid will grow up hating the cops and never develop a respect for the law due to this incident and his parrents talking bad about the police and shit. So he'll just be much much worse. than he would have been otherwise.

true that. im pretty sure a shake up like this would have stopped my "brother" in his tracks. i think the kids reaction will be a mix, and not put down to one or two things. like, for example: divorced parents. one puts the other down in front of the kids constantly. chances are, the kids will realise who the good parent is, and it wont be that one!

i rode my bike on the road once i graduated to two wheels, and only got hit once, which was my own stupid fault.

[scumdog]

Fuck that. I rode my pushbike on the sidewalk all the time. Kept me from being run over by asshole cagers. Never had a problem. Granted I'm white so that may be why.

And more than likely the kid will grow up hating the cops and never develop a respect for the law due to this incident and his parrents talking bad about the police and shit. So he'll just be much much worse. than he would have been otherwise.

But with a bit of luck he won't ride on the footpath anymore....

[Waylander]

But with a bit of luck he won't ride on the footpath anymore....
Yea, stealing, rape and murder are perfectly fine so long as he keeps off the sidewalk......

[scumdog]

Sitting on the bike on the sidewalk with the motor off is against the law??


Like standing on the footpath with an empty gun's against the law too...

The engine wasn't always turned off and the gun wasn't always empty.

[judecatmad]

pushbikes on sidewalks are against the law too. so are skateboards.

So a 7 year old child is supposed to ride on the roads instead of the pavements? Might be OK for quiet rural areas, but not for busy urban streets (I'm assuming this was in a busy town/city area..I could be wrong).

I could understand arresting the wee tyke if he'd been actually riding a dirt bike along the pavement - motorised bikes should definitely only be used on dirt tracks or the road. But, according to the report, he was just sitting on it with the engine off...????

As for riding pushbikes only on the road, until you have a good enough understanding of traffic and the consequences of it hitting you, you should be fully entitled to ride on the pavement.

[Waylander]

Like standing on the footpath with an empty gun's against the law too...

The engine wasn't always turned off and the gun wasn't always empty.
Surely even your old ears would be able to tell if an engine is running or not.

The bike wasn't electric was it?

[scumdog]

So a 7 year old child is supposed to ride on the roads instead of the pavements? Might be OK for quiet rural areas, but not for busy urban streets (I'm assuming this was in a busy town/city area..I could be wrong).

I could understand arresting the wee tyke if he'd been actually riding a dirt bike along the pavement - motorised bikes should definitely only be used on dirt tracks or the road. But, according to the report, he was just sitting on it with the engine off...????

As for riding pushbikes only on the road, until you have a good enough understanding of traffic and the consequences of it hitting you, you should be fully entitled to ride on the pavement.

As I've seen, parents buy a small dirt-bike for Johnny - and then let him ride on the roads "cos there's no place else for him to ride around here"

Like duh, they never noticed there was no suitable place for Johnny to ride BEFORE they bought the bike???

[judecatmad]

As I've seen, parents buy a small dirt-bike for Johnny - and then let him ride on the roads "cos there's no place else for him to ride around here"

Like duh, they never noticed there was no suitable place for Johnny to ride BEFORE they bought the bike???

Yeah, that's a bit different.....

[scumdog]

Surely even your old ears would be able to tell if an engine is running or not.

The bike wasn't electric was it?

Almost wasn't going to dignify the above with a reply BUT just because the motor is not running when you get to a vehicle does not mean it wasn't ten seconds earlier.
Otherwise most drunk-driver would be getting off. (as an example).

[scumdog]

Yeah, that's a bit different.....

Ah, but we don't know that - do we???

[Waylander]

Almost wasn't going to dignify the above with a reply BUT just because the motor is not running when you get to a vehicle does not mean it wasn't ten seconds earlier.
Otherwise most drunk-driver would be getting off. (as an example).
score one for you there. still doesn't justify the way the kid was treated though.

riding a toy dirtbike on a sidewalk is hardly going to get anyone killed. Unless ofcourse this were NZ where people tend to back out of driveways without looking.

Are your bosses going to make standing on a private driveway illegal too?

[NighthawkNZ]

I nearly got pushed off the footpath by a old lady on her Motorized Mobility Scooter thing the other day... dangerouse fracking things they are...

It was probably stolen too... either that she was drunk, or on drugs

[scumdog]

Are your bosses going to make standing on a private driveway illegal too?

Nah - but you stand a good chance fo getting run over.

Boring wet Sunday, eh?

[Waylander]

Boring wet Sunday, eh?
yea pretty much. Nothing to do but laundry.

Though blue sky is starting to break through, may go give my new tyre a propper scrub in.

[smokeyging]

I'm wondering if theres more to the story than this. what if that 7 year old was on the side of the road giveing the cop lip when he was driveing past?

[mud boy]

god thats a bit to far:dodge:

im back again:Punk:

[Skyryder]

"It is clear to me that the arrest was wrong, that the officers on the scene should not have arrested the child, and on behalf of the City of Baltimore I apologize to the boy and his parents," Dixon said.

Sounds like someone with some brains. I wonder how many dollars this cost.

Skyryder

[sunhuntin]

As for riding pushbikes only on the road, until you have a good enough understanding of traffic and the consequences of it hitting you, you should be fully entitled to ride on the pavement.

no...until you have a good understanding of traffic, you are fully entitled to ride on private property, or push bike designed public property [ie, a park]

when i was learning to ride two wheels, i wasnt allowed on the footpath. i learned to ride on the lawn at home. same goes for the motorbike, learning gears and such.

the chances of a car backing over you are greater on the footpath than the road. the closer you are to a fence, the less chance you have of being seen. i know i hate people [of any age!] riding on footpaths. same as i hate mobility scooters, skateboards, and pocketbikes one footpaths. they are called FOOTpaths for a reason.

a child on a trike...yes, thats fine. but once they hit two wheels, its private property only. little kids on trikes are generally slower and more under their parents control than a child on two wheels...specially if its got a motor attached!

[trump-lady]

I lived in Baltimore city for 2 years and the areas there are beyond ghetto. I did three police rides on Fri nights (was interested in joining the police) If this was in one of those areas that 7 year old was probably a runner/lookout for a drug dealer, had more offenses than most 40 year olds and could cut your throat with a switchblade in a sec that he has hidden in his socks.

He was prob well known to the police and the fact his mother allowed him to be on a dirt bike at 7 unattended and without gear pretty much speaks for itself. The kids sadly over there are exposed to alot of crap that makes them way way way older than their age suggests. The police were prob trying to scare him and give him sally up and perhaps thought it would help him. I remember stealing a rubber when I was 8 with a friend. The police took me home and (my dad planned this) told me social welfare was ganna take me away blah blah blah and I tell you what I HAVE NEVER stolen since.

It annoys me they put that in the newspaper but no one talks about the aids ridden drug addicted prostitutes throwing needles at the police or the mothers who whore out there 9 year olds to pay for there crack or the constant crap police get in these areas. Take South Auckland and times it by 10....you get bmore city....................needless to say I never did persue that job.