14 DAY TRIAL // A 13-year-old boy from Chicago was arrested and charged with felony aggravated battery for throwing a snowball at a police officer.
The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon outside George Leland Elementary school in South Austin, while the officer was parked in his vehicle in the 4900 block of West Congress Parkway.
According to Chicago Tribune, the boy insists he was wrongly accused, as he wasn't the culprit. He further affirms the ball didn't actually strike the cop's arm, as he claims.
“He (the officer) said the snowball hit him but it hit the car, not him,” says the boy.
The boy's mother says the snowball came from a group of about 15 kids, but the security guard and the school's Dean, Lenard Robertson, apparently saw the incident and blamed the boy.
“He kept trying to tell the officer that he didn't do it but they didn't believe him,” says the woman.
However, the unnamed 8th grader was taken into custody and charged as a juvenile with aggravated battery. In addition, he was suspended from school for five days.
Residents have criticized the Chicago Police, accusing them of overreacting after the arrest. They believe officers' attitude is not appropriate for the situation.
“It's not fair. [The boy] was being hardheaded, but that's very harsh. The officer should have tried something different than arrest,” said Mary Grant, a resident of the block.
“I think that's ridiculous — it's such a big charge. It's just going overboard. I can see if it were a weapon and harm was done, but it was just a snowball,” said Latanya Powell, a worker from the area.
Many wonder whether the charge would affect the boy's record in the future, but usually findings on juveniles don't remain in their permanent record.
Police confirms the youngster isn't a gang member and reports this was his first arrest. The boy will appear in juvenile court on March 12.