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5 Juveniles Charged For ‘Mafia’ Graffiti At Bratt Park
August 1, 2011
Five juveniles ranging in age from 9 to 16 have been arrested for allegedly defacing the Bratt Community Park back in June with claims about the “mafia”.
Sometime June 9 or 10, deputies said the five juveniles used paint and permanent markers to leave graffiti on 13 picnic tables, the playground equipment, concrete and a covered shelter at the Bratt Community Park on West Highway, near Northview High School.
The five juveniles charged were a 9-year old male from Walnut Hill, a 16-year old female from Walnut Hill, a 12-year old male from Pensacola, a 16-year old female from Century and a
13-year old male from Walnut Hill. All were charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said the juveniles were questioned in the presence of the parents, and all admitted to taking part in the incident. Their parents were all described by the Sheriff’s Office as being extremely cooperative in the investigation.
Much of the graffit referenced the “ICP”, “Wicked Clowns”, “Juggalos” and “Hatchet Man Mafia” — all references to the music and personas of Insane Clown Posse, a hardcore hip hop duo known for their supernatural and horror-themed graphic lyrics.
“The hatchet man mafia rules you and the park,” a paragraph of profanity-laced graffiti read on a children’s slide.
The graffiti at North Escambia’s newest park, which was completed last fall, was full of profanity on the picnic tables and children’s playground. It also contained references to several names and even phone numbers — giving the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office several leads on the culprits.
Most of the graffiti was removed from the park by an Escambia County prisoner work crew at an approximate cost to the county of $250.
Editor’s note: Names of juveniles charged with misdemeanors in Florida are not public record.
Pictured: Five juveniles have been charged in connection with this graffiti that was discovered in mid-June at the Bratt Community Park. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
44 Responses to “5 Juveniles Charged For ‘Mafia’ Graffiti At Bratt Park”
Hello Parent and Bent Straight, you guys are absolutely right.
REGARDING:
” Let not you who is not perfect cast the first stone.”
No stones, just words.
Or if you’re considering words to be stones, then the first is long gone so the rest can fling away. Please note that people aren’t saying a particular person did a particular thing, they are saying doing a particular thing is a bad thing and should be responded to by…..
David considering open season
of concepts
Yes Yes,,, I see my typo’s and bad spellings…..but I’m sure you get my point.
@bmb……ME TOO~
I see these kinds of kids here all the time and wonder WHERE their
MOMMA is and WHAT SHE has been teaching them.
I have neighbors who only teach their children that they need look outs
to stand gaurd when they rob and vandelize, It is so sickening!
I hope these kids learn their lesson, I just don’t hold out much hope
anymore……
These kids do need to be held responsible along with their parents. My sister ran to the rescue for her two girls every time they got into trouble, she and her husband would even lie for them to get them off. Now my nieces are both knocked up, and the oldest one who is 23 now, has two charges against her for doing over $2,500.00 worth of damage to my car and for unauthorized use of the car, my sister is right there with her being charged with criminal trespassing. We were brought up to respect other people and ourselve, I can’t understand what happened to my sister. But yes if you do the crime you should do the time!!!!
Also, the kids have had their punishment. Let not you who is not perfect cast the first stone.
There are many good replies concerning this article. I agree that parents or guardians should keep up with their kids~ pay attention. My tho’ts are teaching respect from ALL angles. If kids learn to respect others, then they will respect what belongs to others. If they learn to take care of what they have @ home, then perhaps they will do the same elsewhere. As for punishment, I don’t believe the answer to everything is to give them “free room and board @ the gray-bar hotel” where we foot the bill. I agree with supervised ‘clean-up’ @ the park…thoroughly clean up their mess and even mow this summer…maybe some counseling/schooling would be in order to teach them the importance of respecting property that does not belong to them. Nip it in the bud by making an example of them~ whoever they are. We don’t need the big city trash and trouble makers up here.
REGARDING:
“They shouldn’t even be charged with anything , just have them clean it up”
Why should they clean it up if they didn’t do it?
Part of the purpose of charging people is to determine if they DID do the deed.
David for nipped buds
Deface = Change the appearance in a negative way.
Destroy = Make an object unusable.
Nothing to do with the charges, just the comments.
Jack for clarity
@ huh
“did you not draw on something as a kid at one point in your life?”
Yes – on the wall at home when I was about 4…had to clean it up…after the whipping I don’t recall ever doing it again.
Lesson learned: If it is not yours, take better care of it than if it was yours.
“Fools hands fools faces, always seen in public places.”
“Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” Both sound better coming from a German Mama who reminded us daily to respect other people’s property. We weren’t allowed to write on our bodies either because that is God’s temple and you don’t deface God’s temple. The older I get the prouder I am of the “STRICT” rules I was made to follow, the chores we were given that didn’t allow for much time to cause trouble and most of all the encouragement to use the time left over to READ, not only for educational purposes but for pleasure as well. Could have written the above quotes in a different language because someone taught me to use my time wisely, if I haven’t told you lately, thanks Mama, everyday you are appreciated more and more.
in the spirit of Adams (Becky the reader)
@ Huh
Yes everyone reading this or responding to this, has left a remark on something in our lifetime. I hardly think 13 tables, play ground equipment, concrete slabs, and a covered area is hardly minor, and just being a kid! They should be publicly humililated, and punished as which seems the case.
The comments here are scary, its a huge over-reaction to a minor issue. Every park bench ever has some type of writing on it. Its not like it was carved into the wood its just marker and would probably fade anyway.
They are just kids , did you not draw on something as a kid at one point in your life?
They shouldn’t even be charged with anything , just have them clean it up
I agree with Sandra!
I told you they were not from Bratt. These kids should be made to clean up the mess with sandpaper and 100 degree temperatures. Then should have to cut the grass in the park for the remainder of the year. Then one Saturday have signs made to read “I’m guilty of damage to the park” then stand at the side of the road at the park all day long and let people have a good look at future criminals.
Think! When you were a kid you did stupid things, peer pressure is a powerful force, but there should be consequences such as cleaning up the sides of the highway for hours and hours and hours, community service.
to huh: Is this your child who did this? It seems that you want these kids to get off easy…What will happen next? Robbery, theft, etc…. Come on!! Camp 5 (road prison) is full of kids who only got a slap on the wrists..Stop it now before it is too late.
Want to be’s once again. Just goes to show how people when they are young can be so easlily lead into something. They should have to clean it up at their expense and at a time where everyone can see them doing the clean up. If peer pressure put them in this situtation then peer pressure should make them stop this kind of thing. Fight fire with fire I beleive it’s called. Sust saying they need to pay for it one way or the other and this is just one way and I do not think they will forget what it was like to be in front of people cleaning up their mistakes!
Let the younger ones do the clean-up and the older girl (who reallly knows better) should be charged in juvy court.
You know, every time school is out, some sort of vandalism happens around here or in town.
At the age we was allow to go to the school playground and we play and then walked back home,,,,so some kids can go to the playground by there self and then some can’t even go to ther back yard ,,,,
I don’t think they should get off and for the 13,12,and the 9 year olds the parents should go to jail for not keeping up with there kids. that is what is wrong now the kids do what they want and the parents do what they want and every one has a good time until things like this happens and then the parents don’t want you to do any thing to there little darlins. becouse they wood not do anything like that. so let the parents pay by time in jail.
First of all let me thank the deputies for thier commendable service to Bratt & surrounding communities. So glad these juvenile acts are taken seriously. Great job! As a parent of now grown children, I once found myself in a similar situation. One of mine tried to steal from a mall store on a dare. Thankfully she was caught and trust me she was working hard for our county to make ammends for her poor judgement & lack of self control! She was not raised to be that person & after a few months of weekend labor ranging from washing patrol cars to litter patrol on the beach, she got a hot, long & hard reminder of why we taught her right! Sometimes it’s not the parents lack of parenting nor supervision at fault & hopefully the consequences of thier actions will remind them the law abiding, morally conscience way is the RIGHT way to approach life! A few hours of hot hard work should do the trick! This is definitely a major ”heads up” for the parents!
Making them clean it up sounds great. They would be supervised, they can’t take a break until told to. They have only water to drink (no sodas), they have to bring a bagged lunch.
Working in this heat – As hot as it is, they should learn something! They need to learn that if they don’t learn from this experience, this is what’s down the road for them.
Once they see you have to pay the consequences for your actions, they should have a different outlook on destroying property.
Hey – then make them write a term paper about it!
I just knew it wasn’t a street gang taking over the neighborhood, but rather just a bunch of young people with too much idle summer time on their hands and no “real adult” supervision.
As I said before, when my daughter and I were up there walking the track one day, I saw 2 older boys riding around on their bikes and the other kids sitting around the picnic table. I was keeping my eyes peeled on the older boys because they were sitting on their bikes on the portion of the track where my daughter’s car was parked and I found myself wondering what they were up too. Then when I started walking in that direction, I walked through the pavilion where the younger kids were sitting around the table. Of course, they saw me coming and were just all sitting there twiddling their thumbs and acting like what….were not doing anything. As I walked by, I said hello and asked them if they were having fun yet and their response was “just sitting here looking at all the stuff someone has written on the table”. Not the response back I was expecting!
I know that when I was younger, I never did anything bad on this level, but I did make decisions and let others talk me into doing some things that I wished I hadn’t and regretted afterwards, especially as I got older and realized what a fool I was.
Young people sometimes make poor impulse decisions no matter who their parents are or how they were raised up. I think the real lesson here should be, holding them accountable for their poor decisions and actions, giving them a reasonable productive punishment and move forward in a direction that they will learn the lesson from it to become better teenagers who will make wiser choices in life. Kids grow up to be adults fast, so the right here and now is the perfect time to change their current direction and mindset and maybe some day when they are grownups, they will pay the lessons learned forward.
I think it is about time the parents start paying up the expence for what there child has done. Also I think the child welfare should step in and take these kids in custody and hold the parents responsible for this cost from damage and the state’s cost to detain these kids. I also am curious how some of the kids got a ride from Pensacola and Century.
WHERE ARE THE PARENTS???? CONTROL YOUR CHILDREN..IF NOT U ARE GOING TO LOSE THEM INTO THE SYSTEM……..
REGARDING:
“I don’t feel its worth wasting tax payers time on, the reasonable thing to do is just have them clean it up, no need for charges.”
Of course you don’t. If it stops here, it probably won’t be. So how about this: Charge them and keep a record of the actions if convicted. If they never do such destruction of public property (or even private property) again, that will be the end of it as long as they undo their damage. If they continue to commit crimes, having a record showing their inclinations will be handy to have.
Oh wait, that’s exactly how they currently handle such matters.
David for better behavior
Where is the extension cord lady when you need her?
Parents, educate yourselves.
There are several ways to spot an Insane Clown Posse fan. “Juggalos” are the males and “Juggalettes” are the females. They love to sport the hatchet man logo, including jewelry, tattoos, and clothing with the afixed logo. They have been known to post pictures of themselves with guns, knifes, hatchets on their Facebook or MySpace pages.
These so called “fans” use a gang-type hand sign that is formed into a W on one hand and a C on the other, which stands for “Wicked Clown.” These kids will use I.C.P. buzzwords taken from the Juggalo pledge and they include: Hatchet, Society, Ninjas, Ninjettes, Family, Clowns, Faygo Pop, Clowns, Underground, Freaks, and Neden (which is I.C.P. slang for the female anatomy).
So if your kids are sporting I.C.P. wanabe behavor, you probably need to change their focus onto something that is more positive before they end up in trouble.
Children left to their own devices, lacking in supervision and proper guidance will only produce bad results, today its graffiti and vandalism, what will tomorrow bring? Parents have the responsibility to know where there children are and what they are doing and to be active in their education about how to be good and productive citizens, but, that would require that the parents be good and productive citizens and therein lies the problem.
If the parents doesn’t tighten down now, they can look for the kids to spend time in lock up in a few years. This is serious stuff when you destroy someone elses property, especially when it’s there for others to enjoy.
I totally agree with “another concerned parent and Jim D”,
These kids and almost adults need a HUGE lesson RIGHT NOW.
That is the only way this will not happen again and escalate in
the future.
Mom and Dad certainly SHOULD have cooperated, that was
the least they could do.
Letting them off Scott free is certainly not the right thing to do here.
Vandalism affects all of us and kids need to find better things to
do. Parents today are not WATCHING them or teaching them the
RIGHT things to do with their spare time.
If parents don’t care, they act out!
To huh…. a 9 yr old knows right from wrong,.. the parents should pay for it and the children should do community service…
huh on August 1st, 2011 2:43 am
You bet these kids should be charged. This is a crime, the park had just opened. This is DISTRUCTION OF PUBLIC PROPERTY and to write such profanity! I say charge the kids, make them realize there are consequences for every action. I agree they should have to perform community service at this park or any other park in the area and their parents should be there right along with them, (that way they can learn to supervise their children!)
Parents should be charged as well !!!
How about some quality time with some sandpaper?
It seems to me that the blisters, and some splinters might help them to understand just how deeply marker seeps into wood.
How about some community service? How about harnessing all that energy to make a difference in making the community a little cleaner and nicer? Maybe if they had some idea of something greater then themselves, they would be more likely to value other people’s property?
We don’t need more burden on the jails, they need to have some serious quality time to think about what they have done…. WHILE they are making what they have done right.
Don’t let them off the hook, but make this into a ‘teachable moment’ for them all.
Name Required
(for the punishment fitting the crime)
If we do not stop slapping the hands of these young people and start making them due some kind of sevice to the tax payers for what they due then the crimes will get bigger. They no that their under age and nothing will happen. And what about Mom And Dad, Where are your kids at and what is nine to sixteen year old doing out without supervision. Parents need to be held accountable for what there kids due.
This is where a parents belt needs to meet a childs rear end a few times.
“Juggalos” are the most pathetically retarded losers on the planet. They should be charged with felonies just for having such profoundly bad taste in “music” and lifestyle…
Let this be a lesson little juggalos.
The five juveniles:
9-year old male from Walnut Hill
16-year old female from Walnut Hill,
12-year old male from Pensacola,
16-year old female from Century
13-year old male from Walnut Hill.
The two 16 year olds should be charged as adults, and whatever penalties that will bring. I am assuming that someone did not drop these kids of in Brat, so were one of the 16 year olds kids the driver, so they were responsible for the other three.
The rest should be taken into Juvenal custody, pending a child welfare herring on the home life and the parents/responsible adults made to pay for the damages for replacement of the equipment. Sounds like a group of thugs in training to me. In know their names cannot be released, but if they were…this is most likely not the last time we are going to hear about these kids in the news…and it will not be they made the honor roll. Perhaps their mom/dad took care of this action, the same way another mother took care of an issue last week on North Escambia.
hering
Great job deputies and many thanks for following through with your investigation into this senseless vandalism. Parents, you need to be intimately involved in your children’s lives and know the four W’s of who, what, when, and where your kids going and doing because they really do need your intervention and support to keep them out of trouble.
Yeah! we now know who did it.
I hope these kids have to do community service to clean up areas like the one they vandalized.
The police are going to charge a 9 year old with drawing on wood with a magic marker, I mean really?? How about this, drop the charges and have them sand and varnish over it, if its that big of a deal.
I don’t feel its worth wasting tax payers time on, the reasonable thing to do is just have them clean it up, no need for charges.