INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A 16-year-old who got into a physical altercation with his guardian over video games told responding deputies he could not be arrested because “he is Chinese” reports show.
The guardian told deputies the Vero Beach juvenile, born in China, had a video-game addiction. The teen became enraged when the guardian tried to take away the games to discipline him, reports show.
When deputies arrived, the youth threatened to call the Chinese Embassy, reports show. The teen then clenched his fists, approached a deputy and grabbed the deputy’s wrist, authorities said.
Deputies arrested the youth on a charge of battery on an officer. It was unclear if the teen was taken to a juvenile detention center.
Indian River County deputies responded to a disturbance about 1 a.m. Tuesday at a home in the 500 block of Wright Circle. The guardian told deputies he tried to take away the youth’s video games because the teen was misbehaving and failing to attend school, reports show.
Deputies spoke with the teen, who they said was uncooperative. The juvenile told deputies he wanted to go back to China and refused to live in the U.S. any longer, reports show.
Deputies informed the teen that his guardian had parental rights over him, though it was unclear if the guardian was biologically related to the youth. Deputies said the teen then stood up from his bed, walked close toward a deputy and said, “I want to go to jail,” reports show.
Deputies ordered the teen to sit back down, but he refused. The deputy tried to push the youth back as the teen got in the officer’s face, reports show.
The teen then grabbed the deputy’s wrist and pushed it away. Deputies arrested the teen and took him to the county jail.