NYPD Handcuffs and Interrogates 7 Year-Old For HOURS Over Stolen $5

7 year-old Wilson Reyes was accused of stealing $5 from a classmate, and a scuffle ensued.

Instead of being sent to the principal’s office, the NYPD took him to a police station, handcuffed Reyes to a wall, and interrogated him for hours like a hardened criminal.

His horrified mother has filed a claim with the city’s Comptroller’s Office.

From the New York Post:

“My son was crying, ‘Mommy, it wasn’t me! Mommy, it wasn’t me!’ I never imagined the cops could do that to a child. We’re traumatized,” Wilson Reyes’ distraught mom, Frances Mendez told The Post last night.

…

Mendez said that she and her sister first went to the station house, they were told they couldn’t see her son.

When cops finally allowed the pair to see the boy, they found the panicked kid seated in a shabby chair with his left wrist cuffed to the wall, Mendez said.

She quickly snapped a damning photo of the scene.

“My sister and I started crying when we saw him,” Mendez said.

Eventually robbery charges against Reyes were dropped when it was revealed that another little boy has taken the $5.

The NYPD says the facts of the story are being grossly misrepresented, and that they were only following procedure.

“We responded to a 911 call of a robbery and assault . . . Eventually, [Wilson] was taken back to the precinct and placed in the juvenile room,” a source said.

“He was charged with robbery. The allegation was that he punched the kid and took his money. He took the money forcibly.

“The kid came into the precinct a little bit after 3 p.m., and he was out by 7:45 p.m. . . . That’s standard for a juvenile arrest.”

School officials said the incident took place off school grounds and referred questions to the NYPD.

Read more at NYPost.com

Thoughts on this incident?

Was the NYPD just following procedure?

Should handcuffing a 7 year-old to a wall and interrogating him for hours over $5 ever be considered “procedure?”

Sound off below!