Latonya Eason’s (right) young son Quantavious Eason (left) was arrested and jailed for urinating in public (Pictures: WHBQ/Latonya Eason/Facebook)
A 10-year-old boy was arrested and taken to jail for urinated in public behind his mother’s car.
Latonya Eason went to her lawyer’s office and was inside for about 10 minutes before she said police interrupted them to say that her son, Quantavious Eason, was urinating by her car.
‘I was like, “Son, why did you do that?” He said, “Mom, my sister said they ain’t got a bathroom in there.” I was like, “Well, you knew better. You should have came and asked me if they had a restroom,”’ Latonya told WHBQ this week.
The mother said the cop told her, ‘Since you handled it like a mom, then he could just get back in the car.’
Quantavious Eason was arrested and put behind bars for urinated behind his mother’s car (Picture: WHBQ)
However, several other officer arrived at the scene and were less lenient.
‘Another officer came over there and was like, “Your son gotta get out of the car. He gotta be arrested because he can’t do that,”’ said Latonya.
Her son began crying as cops took him out of his mom’s vehicle.
‘I didn’t know what was happening,’ said Quantavious. ‘I get scared and start shaking and thinking I’m going to jail.’
The police chief said the officer’s decision to arrest the 10-year-old boy was ‘an error in judgment’ (Picture: Facebook)
The boy’s worst fears came true. Officers took him to the Senatobia police station in Mississippi and he was put behind bars last Thursday. Quantavious was charged with child in need of services and then released to his mother.
Latonya said she was ‘speechless’.
‘I can’t believe it happened,’ she said. ‘Why would you arrest a 10-year-old kid?’
The boy was taken to the Senatobia police station in Mississippi (Picture: Facebook)
Senatobia Police Chief Richard Chandler later posted a statement on Facebook stating that ‘the child was not handcuffed during this incident’.
Chandler stated that the Youth Court Act allows officers to file a referral against a child aged 10 if they commit acts that would be illegal for an adult under the same circumstances. The officer did not see a parent at the scene at initial contact, he wrpte.
‘It was an error of judgment for us to transport the child to the police station since the mother was present at that time as a reasonable alternative,’ wrote Chandler.
The mother said she was at her attorney’s office when her son urinated in public (Picture: WHBQ)
‘Mistakes like this are a reminder in this profession as to the continual need for training and refreshers on the various topics that we encounter each day.’
Latonya was not pleased with the office error.
‘That could really traumatize my baby,’ she said. ‘My baby could get to the point where he don’t wanna have an encounter with police, period.’
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Cops arrested a young boy for urinating in public despite his mother coming out to address the incident.