A Mississippi mother was furious to discover that her third-grade son was arrested and placed in a holding cell by police for urinating behind her car.
The boy's mother, Latonya Eason, who is Black, discussed the August incident with the Huffington Post.
Eason said she had been in a meeting when an officer entered the building and informed her that he witnessed her son, Quantavious, relieving himself outside of the parked vehicle.
When Eason left the meeting to question her son's behavior, the boy's sister said he resorted to doing what he did because there were no public restrooms nearby.
But things didn't end with Eason reprimanding her boy.
According to the boy's mother, more officers later arrived at the scene.
The officer who witnessed Quantavious urinating claimed he did not initially want to arrest the boy but was instructed by his lieutenant to do so.
Here is a clip of the news report.
10-year-old boy detained by police after public urination outside of lawyer's officeyoutu.be
Eason was outraged after she arrived at the precinct and the officers did not take her to where Quantavious was being detained.
She told the media outlet:
“It was taken way too far and out of hand. It should have never happened."
"That first officer that made contact with him, saw him do it, allowed him a break and that should have been that."
"It really did not take four more officers to pull up. I mean, he is only 10 years old.”
Social media users weighed in with their thoughts.
Quantavious was charged in youth court as a “child in need of services."
As part of his sentencing, he will be required to check in with a probation officer once a month for three months and also write a two-page report on the late NBA legend, Kobe Bryant.
Carlos Moore, the attorney representing the child, said the prosecutor suggested increasing the charges if all parties involved couldn't agree to the probation terms.
Moore believed the way Senatobia Police handled the situation was racially motivated.
He plans to file a federal lawsuit against the police officer and the city.
Said Moore:
“To criminalize this boy for something that is so common across America is asinine. We are dismayed that an officer did this at the direction of the lieutenant."
“That tells me that there was some animus there. I believe it was some racism."
"You won’t find in America where a white boy has been done like this.”
Moore added:
“It was only for 90 days, but in a perfect world, the charge would have been totally dismissed."
The Senatobia Chief of Police, Richard Chandler, later issued a statement saying that the "officer's decisions violated our written policy and went against our prior training on how to deal with these situations."
It further stated:
“As a result of the investigation, one of the officers involved is no longer employed, and the others will be disciplined.”
"We will also have mandatory juvenile training department-wide, just as we do every year.”
The Chief also acknowledged:
"It was an error in judgment for us to transport the child to the police station since the mother was present at that time as a reasonable alternative."
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