A trial date has been set for a 14-year-old Virginia teen who is accused of stealing a carton of milk from the school cafeteria.
Ryan Turk was charged with petit larceny for allegedly stealing a 65-cent carton of milk from the Graham Park Middle School cafeteria, even though he’s enrolled in his former school’s free lunch program.
He was also charged with disorderly conduct for refusing to go to the principal’s office after the school officer pulled him out of line. The teen insisted he did nothing wrong.
Via NY Daily News:
The teen turned down an offer of nonjudicial punishment through a diversion program, opting to to go through a criminal trial instead in November, according to the Washington Post.
His family chose to go to trial to prove the boy’s innocence:“My son is not going to admit to something he did not do,” Ryan’s mother, Shamise Turk, told the paper.
The charges stem from an incident on May 10, when Ryan was pulled out of the lunch line by a school officer who spotted him taking the milk carton.
The teen reacted in frustration after the officer handled him roughly, according to local reports.
“I yanked away from him, I told him to get off me of me because he’s not my dad,” Ryan told WJLA in May.
Police said Ryan was charged with larceny for attempting to “conceal” the milk and then was suspended from school for being uncooperative with school officials and for using his cellphone on campus.
Ryan’s mother, who works for the school district, reviewed surveillance footage of the incident and said the video shows that her son did not conceal the milk, according to the Post.
Ryan had a preliminary hearing for his case on Tuesday and is set to go to trail next month, just days before his 15th birthday.
“No one needs to be punished for stealing a 65-cent carton of milk,” Emmet Robinson, a lawyer representing the family told the Post. “This officer treats kids like they’re criminals, and guess what happens—they’re going to become criminals.”
This is utterly ridiculous!
Your thoughts?
