NORWOOD, Mass. — Two Norwood mothers are claiming their sons were held at gunpoint, handcuffed, and put in a line-up for a crime they had nothing to do with. Those mothers are now asking why their underage boys were questioned by police without their knowledge.
Laura Ritter said her 15-year-old son was riding his bike to his grandmother’s house near Walpole Street in Norwood on Saturday. Erica Blue explained that her 16-year-old son was with him, when all of a sudden, the two boys were cut off by a police cruiser.
“He said the car pulled over, police jumped out, and guns were immediately drawn at them,” Ritter recalled.
Ritter and Blue said the boys told them they were pushed to the ground and handcuffed, before being put in the back of a police cruiser.
“My son said they were asking them about things that happened in the area and my son was just confused and didn’t know what was going on,” Ritter said. “They were asking, ‘Do you know about a gun?’”
However, according to Boston25 Legal Analyst Peter Elikann, it’s illegal for police to question minors without a parent or guardian present.
“Massachusetts law is clear; juveniles may not be interviewed by the police unless their parents are with them or some other responsible appointed adult and there’s good reason for this. They have found an astounding number of times juveniles will confess to things that they never did just because they have an authority they’re trying to please, who seems angry and they figure that will placate the person asking them the questions,” Elikann explained.
The pair of mothers later found out that police were investigating a carjacking reported in the area of Village Road West in Norwood.
While in the police cruiser, Ritter said the boys were asking police officers “Can you please call my mom, I’m a minor,” but she was never contacted.
Ritter and Blue said the officers then put the boys in a line-up on the side of the road in front of Windsor Gardens
“The victim said that it wasn’t them and they just let them go and [officers] said, ‘You’re lucky, it could’ve been worse.’ I’m shocked that they would say this to my son,” Ritter said.
Once they were free to go, both Ritter and Blue’s sons called them immediately.
“He called me very hysterical, upset. ‘They have guns on me, they trying to arrest me, I’m going to jail mom.’ That’s all he kept saying,” Ritter remembered. “I was just utterly scared. I stopped everything I was doing and ran home, ran towards Norwood.”
Ritter and Blue are now seeking answers from the Norwood Police Department.
“My biggest concern is how they treated our kids. Them not calling us, letting us know what happened, and just not knowing what was going on,” Ritter explained.
Boston25 reached out to Norwood Police to verify these claims, though police only confirmed that potential suspects were detained, and upon further investigation, they could not be positively identified as the suspects, so they were released.
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