VALDOSTA — A juvenile was charged with motor vehicle theft and child cruelty after facing police while holding a toddler.
Around noon Tuesday, police were at a home in the 1800 block of North Troup Street talking with a boy, age 14, and his mother about his involvement with some vehicle thefts, a Valdosta Police Department statement said. The boy was holding a 2-year-old child.
As officers tried to detain the juvenile, they tried to get the boy’s mother to take the toddler; the juvenile dropped the child and tried to fight the police, the statement said.
The juvenile was taken into custody; EMTs checked out the child, who had no injuries, and the juvenile and an officer, both of whom had superficial injuries, police said.
The Department of Juvenile Justice was contacted and the juvenile was detained for two felony counts of motor vehicle theft, one felony count of obstruction of an officer, one felony count of cruelty to children in the second degree and misdemeanor possession of tobacco and tobacco-related objects, the statement said.
The juvenile was taken to a Regional Youth Detention Center.
“This juvenile escalated this incident, which resulted in him endangering a toddler, injuring an officer, and injuring himself. The fact that he put the life of this toddler in danger to prevent himself from being arrested is baffling. He showed no respect for the safety of others,” said Police Chief Leslie Manahan.