So, here’s an interesting story that was passed our way. An 11-year old boy was arrested and handcuffed for doing what his therapist told him to do…draw. The original story and follow-up videos are below. It’s an interesting dilemma and people seem to be on both sides of the fence on this one.

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Original News Report Video

Transcript



Follow-up News Report Video

Transcript



Transcript of Original News Report

An 11-year old following orders from his therapist, only to be cuffed arrested, and hauled off to jail.

Julie Hayden:

This boy’s parents and doctors don’t understand why Arvada (Colorado) police treated an 11-year old they way they did. Now his parents don’t want us to use their real names or show their faces.

Eleven year old Tim was only doing what his therapist told him to do.

Dr. Patrick Bacon – Psychiatrist

We will often ask kids to draw about their feelings.

Julie Hayden:

Tim is being treated for ADD and his therapist told him to draw pictures when he got upset rather than disrupt class…so that’s what he did. Last October Tim drew a stick figure of himself with a gun, pointed at 4 other stick figures with the words “teachers must die.”

Mother:

It was what his doctors had told him was the right thing to do.

Julie Hayden:

He felt calmer and was throwing it away when his teachers saw it and sent him to the principal’s office. Now the school determined Tim wasn’t a threat, notified his parents and sent him back to class. But his mom was horrified when Arvada police showed up that night, arrested her son, and hauled him away in handcuffs.

Mother:

It was heart-wrenching to see my son walk out my front door , my 11-year old son, walk out my front door in handcuffs and get in that police car.

Julie Hayden:

Police put Tim in a cell, took his mugshot, fingerprinted him and wouldn’t let him see his parents. He says he thought he was going to jail and never going home again.

Mother:

I think it’s violently unfair to these little guys and it’s traumatic.

Julie Hayden:

According to the police report, the school at first said it did not want to press charges and Tim told officers he would never hurt teachers or anyone. A juvenile assessment report says he’s never been in legal trouble before and is at low risk to reoffend. But he’s being charged with interfering with staff and students at an educational facility. The system says it’s doing what’s in the best interest of the child, but Tim’s therapist says handcuffing him and putting him in a cell does much more harm than good.

Dr. Patrick Bacon – Psychiatrist

I really don’t get that at all. To me, it doesn’t seem like there’s any victim to this. He was doing what he thought he should. He’s only eleven. He’s not posing a serious threat to anybody. I mean that is just bizarre to me that they would respond this way.

Julie Hayden:

Now Arvada says because today is a holiday they were not able to get hold of everyone involved or pull all the reports, but they will have a response tomorrow.

Transcript of Follow-up News Report

An 11-year old boy handcuffed at his family’s home and taken to the Arvada police department over a drawing. Tonight, police are saying they did nothing wrong. Investigative reporter Julie Hayden has more…

Julie Hayden:

Eleven-year old Tim was doing what his therapist told him to do.

Mother:

It was what his doctors told him was the right thing to do.

Julie Hayden:

He drew a stick figure picture of himself pointing a gun at 4 other stick figures with the words “teachers must die.” The drawing helps let out angry emotions. Tim, his parents, and his therapist say it was not a threat and he would never hurt anyone.

Dr. Patrick Bacon – Psychiatrist

I never saw him as dangerous at any time.

Julie Hayden:

The principal, who knew Tim was seeing a therapist, determined he was not dangerous, sent him back to class and notified his parents.

Mother:

He had calmed down, everything was fine and they were sending him back to class. Then I thought that was the end of it.

Julie Hayden:

That’s why Tim’s mom was horrified when the Arvada police showed up at her house that night, arrested her son, handcuffed the 11-year old and hauled him away in the patrol car.

Mother:

I said, “well can I just ride him down to the police station? Can I follow you or can you follow me and they said no m’am we need to take him into custody.”

Julie Hayden:

At the police department they wouldn’t let him see his parents or get any dinner. He was put in the cell, had his mugshot taken and fingerprinted. Instead of going home, the eleven-year old was sent by ambulance to a mental hospital in Colorado Springs for three days. According to his parents, doctors there determined he was not a threat…they let him go home and said the whole thing was being blown out of proportion.

Dr. Patrick Bacon – Psychiatrist

I think it’s more a question was this potentially harmful to him to have such a big reaction to basically just drawing a picture.

Julie Hayden:

Arvada police say they have discretion on how to handle these cases and felt the circumstances here justified their actions.

Susan Medina – Arvada Police

They both had made the determination that the safest most effective route possible for this individual was to be booked through on the charge he faced and then proceed through the process.

Julie Hayden:

But Tim’s therapist and his mom say the way police treated the 11-year old did more harm than good.