Thursday, March 6, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
A Las Vegas woman has gone national with the story of her 9-year-old son's felony charge for writing his name in cement, accepting requests for interviews from major television and radio talk shows.
Barbara Anderson and her son, Jeremy, appeared this morning on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Interviewer Rick Roberts, a former attorney turned radio talk show host based in Dallas, arranged a live telephone interview with the family for his morning show Wednesday.
Tom Brokaw reported the case during Wednesday's "NBC Nightly News" and concluded the program with a camera shot of "The End" written in cement.
Since the SUN's first story on the family's dilemma was published, newsroom phones have been ringing with information requests from a variety of media, including "Montel Williams Show" and Tribune News Services syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker.
Jeff McDonald of Canada's World Tonight Radio was the last to speak with the Andersons before they left Las Vegas on Wednesday.
"They were on the way to the airport to catch a flight for New York, and we tried to do the interview over their attorney's cell phone," McDonald said. "They said they were going on 'Good Morning America' in the morning, and the 'Sally Jessy Raphael Show.' The cell phone cut out, so we didn't get much of anything."
In an interview with the SUN last week, Barbara Anderson said she threatened Metro Police, the district attorney's office and officials at Juvenile Hall that she would go to the media unless she was provided with copies of the legal paperwork connecting her son to the vandalism.
"They've given me nothing," Anderson said. "No parent should be treated this way. No child should have to go through what my son did."
The vandalism occurred Nov. 19 after Plaster Development workers poured cement for a new sidewalk outside the Durango Hills Condominiums off West Washington Avenue and Durango Drive in northwest Las Vegas.
Jeremy, on his way home from school with his older brother, Sean, and some friends, said a workman waved them over to the cement, asked if they'd like to write their names and left.
Some left their hand and footprints. Jeremy said he wrote his name and those of "all of my friends."
The etchings, which CNN used in its coverage, span a 330-foot piece of sidewalk outside the development.
Repairs will entail replacing a total of 1,500 square feet of cement.
Plaster Development filed a police report last fall after finding the damage.
Richard Plaster, the development company's president, said that since the story first made headlines, a rock has been thrown through his office window, his receptionist has been verbally harassed and threats have been coming in from across the country.
He said he asked the district attorney's office Wednesday night to drop the criminal charges to stop the massive media blitz.
"I was told that the issue now rests with the district attorney's office," Plaster said at a news conference this morning. "We filed a police report like any company or person would for vandalism. We didn't do it to hurt a little kid."
Plaster said his company will gain nothing financially from the criminal case, and instead has lost thousands of dollars from time wasted over the flood of media calls.
Damage to the sidewalk has been estimated at $10,300: $3,200 for Signature Homes' initial cost and $7,100 to replace it.
The names Nick, Snoopy, Kourtney, Kamryn, Sean, Keat, Nora, Theresa and Jeremy are written a combined 86 times across the cement panels stretching an entire block, along with a tiny pair of footprints and a star.
Plaster held the news conference on the same sidewalk this morning, standing just in front of "Sean is cool."
"We attempted to contact the parents of the boy (last November) to work out a settlement for the costs," Plaster said in a prepared statement.
"A representative from our company contacted the boy's mother, who refused to discuss the matter. Subsequent telephone calls to the family went unanswered, and we were forced to turn our complaint over to the local authorities."
In Nevada, vandalism in excess of $5,000 is considered a felony, and the law requires that children as young as 8 who are charged with a felony be arrested.
After obtaining a warrant, Metro Police plainclothes officers arrested Jeremy in the McMillan Elementary School principal's office on Jan. 28.
Jeremy said the officers "were real nice," and that no other students saw him leave campus. He was transported without handcuffs to Juvenile Hall, where he was booked, underwent a mandatory strip search (which is instituted to prevent kids from bringing in weapons) and was placed alone in a holding cell, where he was fed and waited until his mother arrived a few hours later.
Barbara Anderson told the SUN that Jeremy was put in a holding tank with four 17-year-olds, one of whom shot someone, and claimed they threatened her son.
Juvenile Hall authorities are barred by confidentiality laws from discussing children's cases, but said a 9-year-old would never be placed in a cell with 17-year-olds and that a minor charged with attempted murder would be sent directly to the Clark County Detention Center.
The only time a young child would come in contact with an older child would be while waiting in the lobby of the booking area for personal identification to be keyed into a computer, said Sally Huncovsky, juvenile probation supervisor.
"We would never put a little boy in with a group of sophisticated older kids," Huncovsky said. "We consider their charges before we put them in a (single or group) cell, and the little ones are always put in a private cell for their protection. We don't want big kids ganging up on little kids."
Barbara Anderson is furious, claiming neither the school, police nor juvenile officials ever notified her of Jeremy's arrest and said she found him herself at Juvenile Hall, her first stop after he failed to come home on the bus.
She also said Jeremy told her he signed a bunch of documents before she got there, one of which waived his rights to an attorney.
Huncovsky said part of the booking officer's responsibilities is tracking down a child's parent or legal guardian by telephoning their home, work or other location.
She added that a child's Miranda rights are read and a corresponding form signed only after the parent or legal guardian arrives at Juvenile Hall and joins the child for an interview with a probation officer.
The only form signed before a parent arrives is an inventory of personal items such as belts, combs, jewelry and money removed from the child's pockets and held until their release.
Jeremy was released into his mother's custody the same day as his arrest.
Plaster said city officials inspected the damaged sidewalk and determined the sidewalk must be torn out and repoured to comply with city codes.
"Some may perceive this as harmless mischief, but it will cost us a lot of money to repair," Plaster said.
"We have not sued the family, we have simply notified the authorities of a criminal act. The laws of Nevada are very strict when dealing with young people.
"This was not a simple case of a boy writing his name in cement. The damage was substantial and the cost to repair that damage was substantial.
"The type of damage, like most graffiti, is the same type of damage that costs businesses and governments millions of dollars a year to repair," Plaster said. "We could not continue to operate if we were forced to shoulder the cost for each felony act of vandalism inflicted upon us."
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