Police still don’t know how a 13-year old boy they arrested on Saturday got a handgun.
Police arrested the boy who they say was armed and already being sought on a warrant after he ran from officers on Friday night, officials said.
The arrest triggered a relatively new procedure, police said. In California, children under 15 must now first consult with an attorney before waiving their Miranda rights.
In September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law which guarantees children under 15 speak to a lawyer before deciding to waive their Miranda rights and submit to an investigation.
In order to speak to juveniles under 15, police must use an on-call number and wait for an attorney to call back.
“With the relatively new law regarding the questioning of juveniles involved in criminal activity, law enforcement officers are required to provide counsel/an attorney to juveniles before answering any questions,” said Lt. William Grisafe. “This step restricts the ability of officers to obtain pertinent information, which is what occurred in this incident.”
Officers pulled over a car for a traffic violation just after 10 p.m. last Friday at Mountain Street and Sunset Avenue.
The young passenger ran from the car, and after police caught the fleeing child they discovered the weapon. The child was already being sought on a no-bail warrant.
The boy was taken to a juvenile detention center.
Brian Day contributed to this story.
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2 thoughts on “Police Still Want to Know How 13-Year-Old Got Handgun, Say New Law Is Hampering Efforts”
Hello – This article is a bit incomplete. How is the new law slowing the investigation? Have they not been able to put the suspect in contact with an attorney? Or has an attorney advised the suspect to not answer questions? Just one more sentence would add so much clarification to this story.
Thank you