Little Boy Faces Two Felony Charges

ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich. (April 21, 2014) — Edward Hart, 8, faces two felony counts after an altercation with police and damage done inside a police vehicle, according to court documents.

“I don’t even think he did anything wrong in this case.” stepfather Robert Bluhm said. “He’s special need[s].”

Edward, ran away on March 19 from the Hillside Learning and Behavior Center in Allegan where Edward Hart attends school, Bluhm said.

An Allegan police report lays out what happened from the responding officer’s perspective. A teacher and the principal chased after the 8-year-old, and a third teacher caught up with Edward at a party store, a block away off of M-40, the report said.

Little Boy Faces Two Felony Charges

8 year old with special needs getting 2 felonies. I thought it was a onion story at first! Absolutely ridiculous, fine for the camera to the parent at the utmost, but felonies??

a reply to: Snakedoctorjw

Meh, they just want the 50 dollars at the end of it.

a reply to: Sremmos80

Too bad it's not up to the police about the charges. The chief seems very reasonable, but the DA makes the final decision.

a reply to: Snakedoctorjw

I have to question the police car design - when a arrestee can destroy the camera from inside the restraint area - the design is flawed

a reply to: Snakedoctorjw

This is crazy! How can an 8 year old even be charged with obstruction? He probably doesn't even know what obstruction means! And why is the DA prosecuting this little boy, with special needs? He was probably scared! Total waste of resources, he's a kid for crying out loud! He didn't hurt anyone..

The officer reproted that Edward broke the police camera in the back of the car. As a result, Edwared is charged with malicious destruction of police property and resisting and obstructing

OP Sorce

It seems like a non-story to me. The parents will pay the $50, the persecutors office may want Juvenile court to order some kind of counseling but that's about it I think.

Sad....What a cute little boy. I would be furious if that was my son. Geez....He's a LITTLE BOY with special needs. WTH is wrong with this country?!!

Only a society out of control charges a special needs eight year old with felonies.

Butt wipe D.A. Butt wipe humans putting up with it.

Several things -
Do we know what type of setup is in the back of the patrol car? Cage / half cage / no cage.
Generally speaking putting a child in handcuffs is a no no.
The above 2 could result in the damage to the camera.

Are charges warranted? - Depends

Personally speaking I don't think charges are appropriate. With that being said it might be one of those - required to charge in order to recoup loss of camera via insurance.

The other possibility is the kids escape. The article mentions that he has done this before in the past. What we don't know is if he destroyed anything during those incidents and what the resolution was.

It is possible this incident may have been the one that broke the camels back so to speak.

a reply to: Zaphod58

It was up to the police to charge him in the first place tho was it not?
I understand they might not have the power to drop them once they have been charged tho
But yes the chief does sound reasonable and he will work directly with the DA I am sure to get this taken care of it it can be fixed with 50 dollars

a reply to: Sremmos80

No, the police arrest and send the report to the DA, who makes the decision on charges.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Sremmos80

No, the police arrest and send the report to the DA, who makes the decision on charges.

The cops chose the charges that go in the reports tho.... The DA then decides if those charges are correct and fair.
So did the DA change them to felonies after reviewing the report or did they come to him as felonies and he decided that was fair and approved it...
Either way it is BS, but think it is all just a scare tactic for the kid that is getting blown up

Not shocked in the least, because Michigan is pretty damn broke (along with a lot of states).

Looks like the state is just trying to squeeze as much money out of people as it can, wherever/however it can.

It's a damn shame.

Sooner or later people are going to get sick of it, and it'll get ugly.

originally posted by: Sremmos80
a reply to: Zaphod58

It was up to the police to charge him in the first place tho was it not?
I understand they might not have the power to drop them once they have been charged tho
But yes the chief does sound reasonable and he will work directly with the DA I am sure to get this taken care of it it can be fixed with 50 dollars

Law Enforcement does not charge people, the PA is responsible for that. If we arrest someone for murder and submit the probable cause affidavit to the PA, they decide if the charges / prosecution occurs. Law Enforcement is responsible for investigating the crime and submitting the results of those investigations to the PA.

The PA can also do their own investigation being most have their own investigators. The police don't have to submit charges for the PA to issue charges and prosecute someone.

Frankly, I'm tired of reading about out of control children. If parents slapped them around when appropriate we wouldn't be having such problems.

a reply to: Xcathdra

And they're required to submit the report regardless of their personal feelings.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Yes cops don't make the final decision, but they sure as heck make the first suggestion... And in this case the DA agreed for some crazy reason.
The cops still had a big hand it the charges being felonies...
Unless they sent them over as misdemeanors or infractions and then the DA changed those charges

a reply to: Sremmos80

Police have no choice. They're required to send a report to the DA about the arrest. Even if they don't want to they have to send the arrest report to the DA.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I am agreeing there, a crime took place so they must report it.
I also understand that for most crimes there is a felony option and a misdemeanor option.
The cops initially decide what one is going to be the initial charge based on what they know.
They then compile what they have and send it to the DA
The DA decides if the cops got it right or wrong. What happened here, did the DA agree with the felonies or did he change them to felonies after reading the report?
From what I got out of the OP was that the DA just ran with the initial felony charges when they don't seem warranted

a reply to: Sremmos80

That's the impression I get too.