A 7-year-old was interrogated for 10 hours by police over $5 back in Dec. according to his family. On Jan. 30, the New York Post reported that Bronx police handcuffed a young boy after he was taken out of his class over a dispute on the playground. Wilson Reyes reportedly got in to a scuffle with another boy after $5 was dropped on the ground and some kids accused him of picking it up.
"My son was crying, 'Mommy, it wasn’t me! Mommy, it wasn’t me!' I never imagined the cops could do that to a child. We’re traumatized. Imagine how I felt seeing my son in handcuffs! It was horrible. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing," said Wilson's mom, Frances Mendez.
The 7-year-old was then interrogated for 10 hours about the money. It started at PS X114 where police took the boy in to a room for four hours. He was then transported -- like a criminal -- "to the 44th Precinct station house for another six hours of interrogation and verbal abuse," this according to the $250 million claim made against the NYPD.
"[This story is] grossly untrue in many respects, including fabrication as to how long the child was held in the precinct which was less than half of the time mentioned," said Inspector Kim Royster. The NYPD claims that the boy was held from 3:00 p.m. until 7:45 p.m. They call this a "standard for a juvenile arrest."
The 7-year-old who was interrogated for 10 hours was charged with robbery. The charge was later dropped.
© Effie Orfanides 2013
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