In a case of "that could only happen in the South," an irate South Carolinian mother had her 12-year-old son arrested Sunday after he opened his Christmas presents early.
The Smoking Gun website published the actual police reports showing the boy charged with petty larceny. Officers Michael Reid and Andrea Smith responded to the "scene" and took a full report of the "incident." The "victim," 27-year-old single mother Nancy Holley, of Rock Hill, South Carolina, was apparently fed up with her disruptive son. The last straw came when he opened his video game system a few weeks too early.
According to South Carolina's The Herald, in an article Tuesday, the boy, whose name is not being released, disobeyed his great-grandmother and unwrapped his Game Boy Advance without permission. The mother, who had the boy at age 15, claimed she didn't know what else to do and called the police after her son produced the contraband.
What's more, the boy is said to have shown "no remorse" when confronted by police officers.
The Herald report showed the boy to be starved for attention and having taken part in petty mischief before. His mother is struggling to obtain a business degree, which may explain some of the attention issues.
But it was the first case of a child being arrested for opening a Christmas present early, said Rock Hill Police Lt. Jerry Waldrop to The Herald.
"Yeah, it's strange," he said.
Yep. Sure is, y'all.
Article comments
1 - Anna Creech
It reminds me of the time when my little sister snuck most of the Christmas gifts from the living room to the kitchen to unwrap them while my Mom napped and I watched TV. She was too young to read then, so her gift selection was somewhat random. We didn't have her arrested for it, but we have reminded her of the incident nearly every year and then some.
2 - Nancy Hecko
So why were the presents out under the tree? Seems to me it creates the perfect opportunity for havoc.
3 - zingzing
knock the south all you like. southerners can take it. we got a sense of humor. sure. go ahead. we won't cry... not... one... drop...
dammit...
actually, i've been to rock hill before. it's great! you can stay up til 6 am, drinking, watchin strippers... full nudity! it's great stuff. not like that pesky north carolina... fuckin liberals. "don't touch our strippers, you pervert!"
...kickin me... "banning" me... what's that nonsense? like i wanna come back anyway...
sheesh...
4 - Dave Nalle
Interesting story except for the rather tired anti-southern bigotry. There's absolutely no reason this same story couldn't have happened in any major northeastern city.
Dave
5 - STM
Geez, what next .... what kid hasn't opened their Chrissy presents early for quick squiz?
The trick, of course, is to do it very carefully and to make sure the wrapping is redone to perfection so no one knows.
Was he actually charged, by the way? You can just imagine the judge's reaction when he/she realises the court's time is being wasted over a unremorseful, present-unwrapping pre-pubescent schoolboy. What a danger to society he must present.
Good stuff. Don't the f.cking cops in South Carolina have any real criminals to arrest?
6 - STM
Did anyone notice by the way that this was a Game Boy ADVANCE. Is now.
7 - hillbilly317
For Pete sake people this such a stupid reason to have some one arrested don't you think .I think so because in the old times every kid snuck a peak once in awhile but that isn't a reason to have the kid arrested I could just see the judges face right now haha haha haha haha haha haha and they will probably throw it out of the court and tell the mother to get a life .because it is wasting the tax payer's money and it is a waste of time and go home and pay atenchen to your child the way he want you to and go to parenting classes to learn more on how to control him/her .
8 - Rodney Welch
There's nothing uniquely Southern about the story. The kid has ADHD, the mom can't control him, and she just got fed up. She's had problems with him from birth, apparently; he's uncontrollable, has no respect for authority and his mom, appearing on on WIS-TV the other night, seemed to me genuinely concerned that sooner or later her kid is going to wind up a statistic if he doesn't get his head screwed on straight.
According to The State, the kid never want to jail; he just spent four hours at the police station. The mom is still hoping he'll be put in the state's juvenile justice system, which is probably going too far, but I can sympathize.
Nonetheless, I could see it happening anywhere in the country, and the local "police" would have "responded" to the "scene" just the same as they would for any other "victim" with a "child" who had opened a "present" before "Christmas."
9 - rawkcuf
I think the worst thing about the article is the fact that right below it appears an advertisement for gameboys. Come on. How far will they go to push their products?
10 - John Guilfoil
That's the funniest thing about the article!
11 - jack dumas
To those who think the kid has ADHD, I say I don't think so, he probably lacks discipline. From the articles that I have read it is more likely that his acting up comes from the fact that he is raised by a single mother who was around 15 when she has him (27 yr - 12). The kid is not given great odds to start with and his mother's actions show that she does not know how to deal with her own kid. They say he's caused trouble before, to me that just mean that the mother has not been able to instill any discipline in the kid. Statistically this is nothing new as kids from single parent family will do worst than kids in double household on average. From research that I have seen, this is especially hard for boys being raised by single moms. In single familly settings, boys tend to do better when raised by their father, while girls do better when raised by their mothers but the improvement was more prononced for boys. I know what I'm saying is not politically correct, but I think a lot of poeple already know its true. For those that are going to say that many single mother do great jobs, I say OK fine, but again statistically not as good a job as a double parent household.
12 - Joe Kaselow
Here it is December 10 and she has her Christmas tree up already? With presents underneath? Why, of couse the kid's going to open them! If I was that kid's lawyer, I'd plead entrapment!