A 14-year-old boy appeared in court Friday, accused of throwing a firecracker at a Peoria police officer during a Monday night fracas near Taft Homes.
The boy appeared in the juvenile division of Peoria County Circuit Court charged with mob action, aggravated battery and criminal damage to property. The teen also faces a retail theft count from an incident in March. Judge Chris Fredericksen ordered the boy held at the county’s juvenile detention center pending a July 14 court hearing when the boy is expected to answer the allegations.
No new information came out during the brief hearing that occurred a day after another boy, 13, was charged with mob action, aggravated battery and criminal damage to property. He, too, was ordered held at the detention center and will appear in court on July 14.
If convicted, both could face up to seven years in juvenile prison. Neither, however, has a criminal record and probation is also an option.
After the hearing, the mother and an aunt of the boy who appeared in court Friday said it wasn’t right that two young teens were charged when others, including several adults, haven’t been.
“These kids did not bring the U-Haul in (to Taft Homes) every year,” the mother said. “They (the two boys) should not have been charged with this. They had nothing to do with it.”
The mother also noted the boys were trying to get out of the melee while others, including several adults, “got at” the police.
The aunt agreed, saying, “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were just trying to enjoy the fireworks.”
Emergency responders were called at 9:46 p.m. Monday, about the time the Red, White and Boom! fireworks spectacle was ending, to a trash bin fire in the Taft Homes. A fire engine and two Peoria police officers responded but encountered what police described as a crowd of hundreds of people and a street littered with trash and fireworks — both live and spent.
The debris blocked access to the burning trash bin.
As firefighters hosed down the live fireworks and police began crowd control, mortar-type fireworks began firing toward and exploding near the officers and firefighters. Some people also hurled bottles and rocks, according to police.
Andy Kravetz can be reached at 686-3283 or akravetz@pjstar.com.
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