Mississippi boy, 10, given 3 months probation for urinating near mother’s car
Latonya Eason said the first officer who noticed her son urinating behind her vehicle planned to let him go with a warning, but he was thrown in the back of a patrol car and transported to jail after a lieutenant intervened.
A Mississippi boy received three months probation and must write a two-page paper on Kobe Bryant following his arrest for urinating near his mother’s vehicle, a Tate County judge ordered Tuesday.
Senatobia Police officers arrested 10-year-old Quantavious Eason on Aug. 10, sparking an uproar and costing the arresting officer his job, according to Fox 13 Memphis.
Senatobia is 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee.
“It was an error in judgment for us to transport the child to the police station since the mother was present at the time as a reasonable alternative,” said Senatobia Police Chief Richard Chandler afterward. “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 Eason was inside an attorney’s office when young Quantavious urinated behind her car. She claimed the first officer who noticed planned to let her son go with a warning, but the child was thrown in the back of a patrol car and transported to jail after a lieutenant intervened.
Authorities then informed Eason they would transport the boy to the police station to process paperwork referring him to youth court, theGrio previously reported.
Before eventually charging him with child in need of services and releasing him to his mother, the 10-year-old told media that police held him in a jail cell.
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Eason said she and her son both remain traumatized by the incident. The scarred mother recalled an incident in which Quantavious became frightened after an officer pulled up next to her at a four-way stop.
“He started shaking and kind of crying like he was nervous,” she told theGrio. Her son asked, “‘Are they going to take me to jail?’ I had to keep convincing him he wasn’t going to jail.”
Following the child’s arrest, Chandler said the arresting officer violated the department’s written policy and went against prior training on how to handle such incidents. He also said several others would face discipline.
“[Quantavious] did not expose himself,” said attorney Carlos Moore, who is representing the child, Fox 13 reported. “There was no public restroom available and he went to the bathroom behind a car. Discreetly.”
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