CHICAGO (CN) - Chicago appears to have adopted a zero tolerance policy for snowballing cops, charging a 13-year-old boy with a felony for allegedly hitting a police officer with a snowball.
The boy, whom the Chicago Tribune did not identify due to his age, told the newspaper it was a case of mistaken identity, and that the snowball didn't hit the officer, but hit the officer's car.
The officer claimed the boy hit him with the snowball on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 19, as he (the officer) sat in his car.
The eighth-grader (the boy), told the Tribune he had just got out of school and was standing in a group of 15 classmates when someone else threw the snowball. He claimed he was singled out by a school dean and a security guard, who were nearby.
The boy was arrested and charged as a juvenile with aggravated battery to a police officer - a felony.
Police told the Tribune that the boy has no gang affiliation and that it was the boy's first arrest.
The boy has been suspended from school for five days.
Chicago has received more than 5½ feet of snow this winter, making it the fifth-snowiest winter on record - and it ain't over yet.
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