Kids keep cops hopping
Staff writer
From a low-speed chase on a scooter to a break-in to play with toys and trespassing in a decaying drainage ditch, kids had police busy this week.
At 7:38 p.m. Monday, Hillsboro police were called to the 200 block S. Lincoln St. by mother Alicia Higbee Schmidt for an out-of-control 9-year-old throwing rocks at houses and mailboxes.
The boy’s father could not catch him, in part because the kid was riding on a scooter according to police radio transmissions.
The boy began racing up and down other streets, including Adams and D Sts., to avoid his parents and police. The child apparently was caught by officer David Funk around 8:06 p.m.
“The kid wanted to run away from the parent so that’s unrelated to any mischievous behavior,” Hillsboro police officer John Huebert said.
A day before, two children broke into a house in the 200 block of S. Madison St. to play with toys there, but the only action requested by the homeowner was a remanding by the children’s parents.
Friday, children were warned against playing on Cooperative Grain and Supply storage equipment in the 100 block of N. Ash St.
While the incidents happened in close succession it doesn’t mean there is an increase in mischievous activity, Huebert said.
“Honestly, I’d say what’s occurring right now is nothing out of the norm,” he said. “Stuff happens all the time. A lot of it to me is whether it gets reported or not.”
While the other incidents were all in Hillsboro, Marion police had their own matters involving juveniles, on May 25 warning children for playing in a drainage ditch in the 100 block of Locust St.