A 10-year-old boy has been arrested for driving a stolen car near a playground in Minnesota where kids were playing, per Law & Crime. Minneapolis police shared the news of the boy’s arrest on Friday.
“The boy was booked into the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center on Thursday for probable cause 2nd degree assault,”
police said in a statement. The incident took place on Sept. 20 at Nellie Stone Johnson School in north Minneapolis. Police revealed that no one was hurt and that
“no children on the playground were struck by the driver.”
The suspect in question, whose name has not been released due to his age, has reportedly had several run-ins with the law.
“Police records indicate that the 10-year-old boy has at least 30 entries dating back to May 2023,”
the statement said.
“He has been arrested at least twice before for auto theft related crimes.”
He is also listed as a suspect
“in more than 12 cases that range from auto theft to robbery to assault with a dangerous weapon,”
as well as
“runaway type cases,”
the statement says. Surveillance footage from the Minneapolis police shows the stolen car driving on the grass and sidewalk around the playground. It drove by where kids were playing on slides, benches, and climbing equipment three times. School staff can be seen trying to get the children to safety, and a young girl almost stepped into the car’s path but stopped just in time.
The boy’s family
“is cooperative with police and have asked for help to keep their son or anyone else from being injured or killed,”
according to police chief Brian O’Hara.
“It is unfathomable that a 10-year-old boy has been involved in this level of criminal activity without effective intervention,”
O’Hara said in the statement.
“Prison is not an acceptable option for a 10-year-old boy. But the adults who can stop this behavior going forward must act now to help this child and his family.”
#Clique, what are your thoughts?
