Lakisa Dinkins consoles her son, Gerard Mungo Jr., then 7, as he described his March 13, 2007, arrest three days later. Court records show that a Baltimore police dispatcher laughed when a sergeant said he would go ‘handcuff the kid’ after Dinkins called to complain about how officers had treated her son. The family has filed a $30 million lawsuit against the Baltimore Police Department. - Kristine Buls/Examiner

Stephen Janis, The Examiner
2008-07-31 07:00:00.0
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After the mother of a 7-year-old boy complained that Baltimore police “snatched” her son off a dirt bike last year, a sergeant boasted to a dispatcher he would handcuff and arrest the child, according to court records.

The records are part of a $30 million wrongful arrest lawsuit filed by Gerard Mungo Jr.’s family against the Baltimore Police Department, alleging false arrest, false imprisonment, battery, assault and violation of civil rights. The family is seeking $5 million each from six officers named in the suit.

Gerard, now 8, was arrested March 13, 2007, on charges of illegally riding his dirt bike outside of his home in the 2100 block of East Federal Street. Dirt bikes are not allowed to be driven in the city. His arrest sparked a series of protests and prompted the NAACP to demand an investigation.

Mungo’s mother, Lakisa Dinkins, also was arrested 11 days later on an unrelated charge of obstructing a police investigation. That arrest came shortly after she participated in a protest against the police concerning her son’s arrest. Her arrest also is part of the lawsuit. Those charges were later dropped as well as the charges against her son.

Dinkins claimed her son’s arrest was payback for her calling to complain that officers Donald Hayes and Charles Grimes treated her son roughly and confiscated his bike without leaving any paperwork.  

“They jumped out on my son,” she told the operator, according to a transcript of the 311 call to the police. “He’s only 7 years old. Scared my child half to death. My child is right here shaking.”

Officers claim he was riding the bike, but Dinkins told the operator that her son was “rolling” down the street and not riding it because she had the key to start the bike.

“How many of them?” the operator asked.

“Two of them jumped out on my child,” she answered.

“Wow,” the operator responded. “I will get you some assistance.”

The operator then filed the complaint, and a dispatcher notified Eastern District community relations officer Sgt. William Colburn IV of the mother’s concerns.

“You’re gonna love this,” the dispatcher told Colburn.

“Oh, I’m gonna lock up a 7-year-old,” Colburn said.

“Oh, you know about that,” the dispatcher said.

“Yeah, the officer called me. He said, ‘Sarge, you might get a complaint. She’s mad that we took her 7-year-old’s dirt bike he was riding illegally,’” he said.

“Right. Wait a minute,” the dispatcher responded. “She’s upset because she wants a supervisor because two officers jumped out of a marked police vehicle and assaulted her 7-year-old and then caused him to wet his pants. ... Heathens! Heathens! You know, if a 7-year-old kid can’t ride his illegal dirt bike in the city in the Eastern District, what’s the world coming to, for God’s sake.”

“He’s getting locked up,” Colburn said.

“Good,” the dispatcher responded.

Colburn then told the dispatcher he will go to the scene to “handcuff the kid.”

 The dispatcher then started to laugh. Documents produced by the defense also indicate that Sgt. Colburn and Officer Hayes made “some type of a bet as to whether or not they could lock up a 7-year-old,” according to court records.

Ronald Levitan, the attorney representing the city, did not return phone calls for comment.

Earlier this week, Baltimore Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock denied Levitan’s request for a change of venue. Levitan argued that extensive media coverage of Mungo’s case had made it impossible for the city to get a fair trial in Baltimore. The Examiner initially broke the story last year, followed by at least 46 articles and media broadcasts that, Levitan said, negatively portrayed the police department.

In written arguments, Levitan blamed the media and local activists for creating “hostility” toward the police. Levitan also blamed community organizations such as the NAACP and radio host Daren Muhammad for stoking the controversy.

“Community organizers, activists and religious leaders have spread their versions of the story, generating anger and resentment and seeking to foment discord and distrust of officers,” Levitan said in his failed motion.

But Marvin “Doc” Cheatham, president of the Baltimore City branch of the NAACP, said the city’s argument falls short in light of the officer’s actions.

“If that isn’t retaliation, then what is,” Cheatham told The Examiner. “The evidence clearly shows what we were saying all along was right.”

Muhammad also took issue with assertions that he is partly responsible for negative publicity surrounding the arrest.

“It’s there in black and white that they weren’t acting like police officers,” Muhammad said. “How can you arrest a 7-year-old because his mother complains? They should be charged criminally.”

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com