(April 3) -- When 12-year-old Alexa Gonzalez was caught doodling on her desk at Junior High School 190 in Queens, New York, she expected detention and an afternoon on desk-cleaning duty. Instead, she was arrested, led out of her school in handcuffs and detained at a local police precinct for hours, she said.

Two months after the incident, Gonzalez and her mother, Maraima Comacho, are suing the New York City Education Department and the New York Police Department for $1 million in damages, claiming excessive use of force and violation of the girl's rights in the ordeal, which Comacho has called a "nightmare."

"We want to stop this from happening to other young children in the future," the family's lawyer, Joseph Rosenthal, told the New York Daily News.

Gonzalez describes the ordeal as traumatizing and excessive, saying that after her Spanish teacher caught her doodling on her desk with erasable green marker, she was "physically dragged by a teacher and an assistant principal" to the dean's office, where school safety officials searched her by placing "their hands inside the rear and front pockets of her jeans." Police were then summoned to arrest her.

Gonzalez told the Daily News she broke down as she was led out of her school in handcuffs.

"I started crying, like, a lot," said said. "I made two little doodles. ... It could be easily erased. To put handcuffs on me is unnecessary."

The legal papers filed by Rosenthal said Comacho was not permitted to accompany her daughter to the precinct and was instead told to go home and wait for a call. The documents also said that Gonzalez was detained in "an enclosed room" at the precinct and handcuffed to a pole for more than two hours.
Video From Feb. 7

In February, New York City officials acknowledged Gonzalez's arrest was a mistake, with a City Education spokesman saying, "Based on what we've seen so far, this shouldn't have happened."

Police spokesman Paul Browne told the Daily News that officers should have used better judgment after being called by the school.

"Even when we're asked to make an arrest, common sense should prevail, and discretion used in deciding whether an arrest or handcuffs are really necessary," said police spokesman Paul Browne.

Now Comacho wants the City to pay for their mistake, to the tune of $1 million for the ordeal that led to her daughter's suspension and a trip to family court, where Gonzalez was given eight hours of community service and ordered to write a book report and an essay about what she learned from the experience.

The suit says officers "knew, or should have known" that Gonzalez had simply doodled with a "soluable, erasable marker."

What were the doodled words that led to her arrest?

"I love my friends Abby and Faith," Gonzalez said she wrote, adding "Lex was here. 2/1/10" and a smiley face.

so what are your opinions on this?

It's bullshiit...trauma and drama for that child, I'd be pissed if it were my kid!

Something doesn't add up... Something's missing from the story. Like The girl attacked the teacher for grabbing her, or something of that nature. I think it would be impossible, and rediculous for an arrest of a 12 year old for just subtle public defacement. It's not even an arrestable offense. Not severe enough. The girl is probably lying, and her naive mother probably believes every thing she says. I hate when parents can't see past the fact that their children aren't innocent, nor perfect. And the million dollar lawsuit is equally stupid. It's just the mothers' greed. She probably only made such a big deal out of this so she could cash in.

three things

1. I HOPE something is missing from the story
2. If nothing is missing, the adults involved should have known better
3. one million dollars is a bit ridiculous for a false arrest

to kill




Man I never liked NY as a city goes! If people in LA think the cops here are trigger happy they have us BEAT! On top of that the justice system there should have seen this arrest for what it was. If she was using a knife to gouge her name in the top of the desk I could EASILY see her being charged for vandalism. But drawing on a desk and going to jail? The principle of that school should suffer a reprimand, sensitivity training, and two months off without pay for that one! the police officers showing up should be reprimanded for not using their heads. They had nothing to do and just wanted to fk with someone. they could have told the principle that arresting her was too much and that he needed to find a different way to deal with it otherwise he was getting a ride to the station with the girl so he could justify the arrest to my superior officer. What a bunch of dipsh ts! Now they messed up a 12 year old girl over what? Being board out of her mind? What was she scribbling on her desk? Gang tags? A plan to kill all of her fellow class mates? OH I KNOW WHAT IT WAS! She wanted to be a rapper and was doing lyrics that made the teacher mad because

"she was trippn' trivialities

feeding us moraities

boring us to death!"

OW! WORD UP!


Bank robbery? She was considering robbing a bank and was doing her plans on her desk. Stupid tripping adults!

New York, there is nothing wrong with you per say but your cops are messed up and your leadership is JUST as bad as ours! I just think you pack as many people in as small an area as you have and you get what you got! By the way, I know why so many of you have telescopes. You sure are not star gazing with them! You can't even see stars there at night! Movie stars yes but I mean the regular ones up above us. I visited NY once and don't really want to go back. I also don't like San Francisco either! There is no other city like Los Angeles period! All other cities just seem the same to me in a homogeneous sense. Sorry if I seem like I am haterateing. Los Angeles has its share of utter stupidity occurring. Hell, most of our High Schools have a Police substation in them now! I witnessed gun violence along with a butt load of other students in High School back in the day. Like New York there are places here I would never go unarmed as a local. I guess in a nutshell, New York! You are a hell of a place!

well she could go back to where ever she came from and see what they say there about defaceing public property . if it ok there we can reward her 3 dollars for being so communty minded . But if they don't we should have her caned like the asians do with there idiots .

Where she came from..what the hell does that have to do with anything?

Hey now! Are you trying to be rational or objective here? Right when we were warming up for a lynch mob? Your no fun, man! No, it must be the whole story, because self-righteous indignation makes me happy.

Based on what I've personally observed and experienced in life, in many different cities in the US, I'd say its normal, common, practically routine for the police in our country to treat people like animals. Not even animals should be treated this way. This is not always about police safety and preventing harm - I understand that using restraints are necessary.

This is a much deeper and widespread problem than whatever happened to this one child on this one day.