10 Year Old Girl Arrested After Drawing Hopscotch Grid On Pavement Outside Her Home.
An elementary school girl was arrested by police after drawing a hopscotch grid on the pavement, according to her father.
Officers arrested the 10-year-old for committing criminal property damage by drawing the grid with highly corrosive category D chalk on the pavement outside her house in Austin, Texas.
The juvenile, Danielle Blackburn, had marked out a grid in chalk – which is now going to cost the Austin taxpayers thousands to have removed.
Her father, Mitch Blackburn, told KXAN, “Two policemen drove up to her and said it was illegal to draw on the concrete as it was criminal property damage. They then proceeded to read her rights, handcuffed her, and took her to the Austin police station.”
When the father was asked how he felt about the situation, his answer was shocking.
“I fully support the arrest and even though she’s my daughter, I hope she gets at least some community service,” said Blackburn. “She needs to learn to have pride for her neighborhood, rather than defacing the city’s streets in this way.”
Mitch Blackburn continued to tell reporters that the streets of Austin, Texas are full of criminals and taggers. He wants his daughter to have a quick lesson so she will not turn out to be one of them.
Austin, Texas Police Department spokesperson, Wanda Wilkins wants children to know this type of behavior will not be tolerated. “We would like to reiterate to all the young girls and boys that drawing hopscotch grids is illegal and will not be tolerated in Austin or anywhere else in the state of Texas. Any child who carries out criminal property damage in this way can expect to feel the full force of the law.”
10-year-old Danielle has been charged with criminal property damage and remains in state custody. She will appear before the Austin, Texas court to answer these charges later on next month.