Little girl faces felony charge for throwing rock at little boy

[tblue37]

San Jose Mercury News
JULIANA BARBASSA
Associated Press

FRESNO, Calif. - Police apparently came prepared for gang warfare when they sent three squad cars and a helicopter in response to a 911 call. Instead, they found an 11-year-old girl who had thrown a rock to defend herself as neighborhood boys pelted her with water balloons.

Little Maribel Cuevas says she didn't mean to hurt the boy - who admitted to officers that he started the fight and was quickly released from the hospital after getting his head stitched up.

But police insist she's a criminal - she's being prosecuted on a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon. "We responded. We determined a felony assault had taken place and the officers took the actions that were necessary," said Fresno Police Sgt. Anthony Martinez.

Her family says Maribel was simply defending herself when 9-year-old Elijah Vang and several other boys pummeled her with water balloons outside her home in a poor Fresno neighborhood in April. They say she quickly sought help and tried to apologize to the boy and his family. The Vangs have since moved away. . . .

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/12148362.htm

Of course, the cops brutalized the little girl as they arrested her. She was a "dangerous criminal," after all!

The Mercury News requires registration, by the way, but the whole article is available in the forums on smirkingchimp.com:

http://smirkingchimp.com/viewtopic.php?topic=57888&forum=3

[cornermouse]

1. Was she just supposed to stand there and let them soak her?

I would think most 11 year old girls would pick up a rock and throw it, if they were being attacked with water balloons. This is ridiculous.

[Torgo Johnson]

2. What do you expect??

It is the home base of RimJob,Mayor Bubba and the rest of the freeper ilk. That cop in the story sounds just like one of them.

[tblue37]

3. I am sure racism/xenophobia was invovled, too--

since the little girl had limited English and her mother seems to have spoken only Spanish.