Belleville Police Bust 7-Year-Old for Allegedly Breaking into Cars

By Paul Friswold Tue., Jul. 31 2012 at 9:46 AM

Categories: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Life imitates cartoons.

In what has to be a record for youngest-ever suspect, Belleville Police picked up a 7-year-old and a 16-year-old (he's an old hand, eh?) on suspicion of breaking into cars in the 1300 block of Frank Scott Parkway at 12:39 a.m. Sunday. I guess at 7 years old, he's too young to know that nothing good ever happens after midnight.

According to the incident summary, a witness heard breaking glass and saw the pair going through parked cars. The kids then took off. Police caught up to them and took them into custody. Police found objects taken from the burgled cars in close vicinity to the two suspects. But that's not all the kids purportedly had.

Police also found a handgun with those objects. Kids today -- I wasn't allowed to even have a pocketknife until I was 10.

Both boys have been charged with burglary to a vehicle and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. The 16-year-old was taken to Juvenile Detention, while the 7-year-old was released into his mother's custody. That had to be a fun ride home, huh?