I have obtained from Slate Magazine's "Hot Documents" file a copy of this police report, which recounts the details of a difficult arrest in Highlands County, Florida, in March. An excerpt:
When I approached [the perpetrator]
she crawled under the table, at which I had to crawl and get her and she began to try to pull her legs away to get away from me. When I finally got her clear she began to pull and try to run away from me. . . . I placed her in handcuffs to keep her from hitting and she still kept trying to get away. Upon placing her into the back of the police vehicle she kept unbuckling and trying to get out by placing her foot in the doorway to prevent it from closing. . . . She was transported to the Highlands County Jail.
The perpetrator was charged with battery and resisting arrest. In her defense, the perp's attorney is expected to argue that the client's behavior is understandable, since she is only six.
Police had been called to Avon Elementary School to subdue Desre'e Watson, a kindergarten student who had been acting up that morning, would not calm down, and allegedly had kicked a teacher with all the deadly force that a 50-pound six-year-old can muster. This led to Sgt. Neale's dramatic sub-table arrest of the "perpetrator" (that's how she's described in the police report). The perp may have been taken to jail only because her parents weren't reachable, but that still doesn't explain why they booked a six-year-old and charged her with felony battery.
Link: Slate Magazine
