A Detroit mother says she turned her 12-year-old son into Detroit Police Thursday to save him from what could have been a life of crime if she didn't get him back on the right track.

Late Wednesday night, the mother, who does not want her identity revealed, says she saw her son on surveillance video of a robbery released by Detroit Police earlier in the day.

Someone had called her and told her that her son, a 7th grader, was on the video, so she had to see it for herself.

The woman did a quick search on Google and the video popped up. Heartbroken, she says she immediately began crying and praying when she saw her son was involved.

The victim was a 56-year-old disabled man who was eating alone in the Universal Coney Island on Grand River Avenue on Detroit's west side.

The victim says the three asked him for some money and he gave each of them a dollar. But then the older one wanted more money, and when the victim went to retrieve more cash, that's when police say the robber tried snatching the man's wallet.

There was a struggle and that's when woman's 12-year-old son and the 13-year-old began assisting their older friend.

After releasing the surveillance video, Detroit Police investigators were also able to identify the teen and the 20-year-old who was with them.