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Title: Car theft ends in beating of teen suspect; photos of boy spark debate
Source:
Milwaukee Journal Sentinal
URL Source: http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/ ... ate-b99667807z1-368335131.html
Published: Feb 10, 2016
Author: David Paulsen
Post Date: 2016-02-11 17:09:31 by misterwhite
Keywords: None
Views: 1321
Comments: 14
Photos of a teen boy lying beaten and partially clothed on a Milwaukee sidewalk are generating intense reaction on social media this week, with some outraged at the violence and others saying the boy got what he deserved. It's the backstory that has people fired up. The boy was suspected of trying to steal a car on the city's south side, and he was beaten and stripped of his pants after his victim caught him in the act, police say. Photos of the boy then were posted on Facebook and shared widely. The attempted car theft and beating happened around 1:50 p.m. Monday near S. 32nd St. and W. Madison St. Police said, in a statement first reported by WITI-TV, that the owner of the vehicle saw two people trying to steal it, and he confronted the suspects. One suspect was able to flee in a getaway vehicle, but the other didn't make it and was punched by the car theft victim, police say. As the suspect tried to climb a fence to get away, another witness caught him by the pants, pulling them off. The car theft suspect was identified by police as a 15-year-year old Milwaukee boy, who suffered a minor injury in the incident and has been arrested. The case will be forwarded to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office for charges against the boy. Police also said in their statement on the incident that they plan to recommend charges against the person responsible for beating the boy and posting the photos on Facebook. That person's identity still is under investigation, police said. The image that has been shared over and over on Facebook appears to be a cellphone screen grab of a man's post to a Facebook group called MKE Auto Market. The post includes two photos of the beaten suspect. One photo is a closeup of the boy's head lying on the sidewalk with his eyes closed. The other photo is a wider shot that shows the boy sprawled out on the snow in what appears to be only a shirt, underwear and socks. "Wow- Young alleged thief gets caught, knocked out, and stripped down to his draws in the snow on the south side. -SMH," community activist Tory Lowe, who is running for Common Council, said in sharing the screen grab image Monday night on his Facebook page. His post had been shared more than 300 times as of Wednesday morning. The boy's mother spoke to WISN-TV and condemned the attack on her son while acknowledging that this wasn't the first time he had tried to steal cars. "He was wrong for touching somebody else's stuff, but that doesn't give anybody the right to leave someone's child out in freezing snow without clothes on left for dead," the mother said. WISN-TV said she asked to remain anonymous out of concern for the family's safety. "This time I think he learned his lesson," she said. The reaction on Facebook to the incident and the photos has been deeply divided. Sympathy was in short supply from members of the Facebook group Stolen Cars Milwaukee. "Now that's a happy ending. Only way it could be better is if the whole crew were beat senseless," Andrew Jehoshaphat posted. But some of the people responding to Lowe's post have questioned the severity of the measures taken against the suspected thief. "This is inhumane no matter the accusations," Kay Bee said. "Everybody so brain washed into thinking this is ok cause he STOLE! He's still a kid and still able to turn his life around with some guidance, not dehumanizing him." Lowe, for his part, posted a news story about the incident early Wednesday saying simply: "Save our Youth." Part of the intensity of the reaction to the incident arguably is tied to the recent outbreak of car thefts and carjackings in Milwaukee, including by underage suspects. The severity of the problem was underscored last month when police announced they had arrested 14 people, including 10 youths, in four carjackings in an 18-hour span. "The problem is this: we're dealing with immature brains," Police Chief Edward Flynn said at a late-January news conference on the car thefts. "We're dealing with immature brains for whom right now it's a status-driven fad to steal cars and a subset are stealing them at gunpoint, another subset are stealing cars that people carelessly leave with the keys in the ignition." Half of stolen vehicles in Milwaukee happen when people warm up their cars and leave them running unattended, Flynn said. Many of those arrested for carjackings and stealing vehicles are teens, and some are even too young to have driver's licenses. 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 9.
#3. To: misterwhite (#0)
These yutes have to understand, "No means No!"
Sadly, this yute understands one thing. He needs to get a gun so this won't happen again. What's the downside? He's 15, so if he gets caught it's what, 6 months probation?
#10. To: misterwhite (#9)
What's the downside? He's 15, so if he gets caught it's what, 6 months probation? " Maybe, before then, he will encounter some local dude that is a bow hunter. Then, the next day they will find him, hanging by his feet, gutted out. One less punk.
What's the downside? He's 15, so if he gets caught it's what, 6 months probation? " Maybe, before then, he will encounter some local dude that is a bow hunter. Broadheads - SBD. Then, the next day they will find him, hanging by his feet, gutted out. One less punk ( future dokter ).
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestThe boy's mother spoke to WISN-TV and condemned the attack on her son while acknowledging that this wasn't the first time he had tried to steal cars.
#9. To: rlk (#3)
"These yutes have to understand, "No means No!"
Replies to Comment # 9. " this yute understands one thing. He needs to get a gun so this won't happen again.
#11. To: misterwhite (#9)
" this yute understands one thing. He needs to get a gun so this won't happen again.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 9.
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