Three Strikes and This Kid Should Be Out

By "out", I mean locked up for a long time:

Police said a 16-year-old Redlands boy was arrested three times in a day, ending his minor crime spree by running from the police station in handcuffs and leading officers on a brief chase.

His brief escape highlights a problem police have struggled with since September: there is no safe place to detain prisoners in the city.

Details of the teen's first arrest were not immediately available.

Officers then encountered him about noon Saturday after he was reported vandalizing property in the 800 block of Colton Avenue. After finding him nearby, police were detaining him in a field while waiting for a witness to arrive. When the boy tried to run and struggled with officers, they tased him, said Redlands spokesman Carl Baker.

After the teen was arrested, he was cited and released to his father.

A little more than two hours later, CVS employees reported that two boys on bicycles had stolen alcohol from the Orange Street store and were seen riding toward Smiley Park.

Police located and arrested the same boy and 21-year-old Evean Hodge. They then brought them to the police annex on Cajon Street, where two other prisoners were handcuffed to chairs in the lobby while waiting to be taken to the county jail. The boy's dad had already arrived.

It was then that the teen decided to make his escape.

"The teen bolted out the front door with handcuffs on, down the steps and our officers were after him in a foot pursuit," Baker said.

One of the officers injured his knee and elbow on the steps as he ran after the boy, who was eventually captured west of the Redlands Bowl.

Because he has heart issues, the boy was taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center and then booked into juvenile hall after receiving a clean bill of health.

Baker said the incident shows the problem of not having a holding cell or other secure place to keep prisoners.

I disagree. The problem here is not the city's lack of holding facilities, but a sociopath kid who clearly is living in a disfunctional home and needs to be locked up somewhere. A year or two in the pokey might wake him up a bit.