A girl from Florida, who is just six years old, has reportedly been arrested, handcuffed, and even fingerprinted, all because she threw a tantrum in her elementary school class.
The incident happened at the Lucious and Emma Nixon Elementary charter school, and the child was taken to a juvenile detention center by the Orlando Police Officers for throwing a tantrum and kicking a staff member.
Many have condemned the police’s response to the situation, and it looks like the girl’s own family is not all too happy either.
Reports indicate that the girl has been charged with battery, further adding to the ridiculous nature of the situation.
According to her family, the young girl named Kaia Rolle suffers from sleep apnea, for which she is being medicated.
Her behavior was the of an episode of sleep deprivation, and her teachers should have been fully aware of what was going on, her relatives have added.
The girl’s grandmother, Meralyn Kirkland, was particularly horrified to find out what had happened and demanded an explanation from both the school as well as responding officers.
The grandmother initially received a phone call, and could hardly believe when she was told that her little girl had been arrested.
The caller added that the girl was being “charged” and that she was on her way.
Kirkland stated: “What do you mean she was arrested; he said ‘there was an incident and she kicked somebody, and she is being charged, and she is on her way.”
Officer Dennis Turner did not understand the situation that the grandmother was trying to describe to him.
She continued: “She has a medical condition that we are working on getting resolved and he says, ‘what medical condition, she has a sleep disorder, sleep apnea,’ and he says, ‘well I have sleep apnea, and I don’t behave like that.”
The grandmother concluded with: “They told us we had to wait a few minutes because Kaia was being fingerprinted, and when she said fingerprinted it hit me like a ton of bricks. No six-year-old child should be able to tell somebody that they had handcuffs on them and they were riding in the back of a police car and taken to a juvenile center to be fingerprinted, mug shot.”
The situation has sparked a lot of conversations online, with many people asking for an explanation for the police’s response.
The teacher, who called the police in the first place, has also been the subject of a lot of criticism.
One commenter stated: “Imagine giving a six-year-old a mugshot. The lowest height on the wall is like 4”11 ?. They probably had to lower the camera. come on that ain’t right.”
A second person shared: “She’s 6….. they were that terrified and couldn’t handle a@6 year old?! ???? Lock her in a room alone and call her grandma to pick her up if she’s that bad. Wtf man. ???”
A neutral voice chimed in: “Not saying this was right but she doesn’t look like the most innocent lil girl, she look like she bite.?”
The school administration has refused to comment on the situation, although reports indicate that a second girl attending the school, aged 8, was also arrested the same day by office Turner.
An investigation is currently underway within the police station because an officer is not allowed to arrest a child under 12 without seeking the approval of a superior.
Turner reportedly did no such thing on that day, and the information was confirmed by Sgt. David Baker.
On Sunday, Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon suspended the officer behind the two arrests, Turner, who has been reassigned to the Reserve Officer Program.
