11-year-old in custody for stealing; his mother is charged with second-degree assault

For several months, Cape Gir-ardeau police have been investigating a series of petty thefts in the area of West Mount Drive. About 6:20 Wednesday morning, they got their man, though he may been shorter than they expected.

He's 11 years old.

The alleged thief was discovered by Matthew Christopher, a neighbor, who says he woke up to find the juvenile in his house trying to unhook his XBox 360.

"I woke up and caught him red-handed," Christopher said.

By the time Christopher woke up, several games and CDs were already missing, he said.

He then chased the juvenile back to his own house and confronted the child's mother, Patti Conway, demanding his property back, according to the incident report.

Christopher said he told her he wouldn't press charges if the items were returned immediately, so the 11-year-old led him to the back yard, where he found not only his stolen goods, but several items, such as credit cards, that neighbors had reported missing as well.

Christopher decided to press charges to teach the juvenile a lesson, he said.

When police arrived, they found much more than one theft might have been solved.

Police took the 11-year-old into custody in connection with the stealing and burglary.

"We believe we got some other stolen property from the house," said Cape Girardeau police department spokesman Cpl. Jason Selzer.

Christopher, however, paid a price for his part in recovering the stolen goods.

The following night, he walked outside, ready to head to Water Street for his riverboat job, when he saw Conway standing in the driveway, flanked by three or four men, according to the incident report.

"Go get him," Conway allegedly said, according to Selzer.

Christopher said he was held down and beaten repeatedly, then Conway kicked him in the face.

He lost three teeth and needed oral surgery as a result of the beating, Christopher said around a badly cut lower lip that had to be stitched.

"They could have killed him by accident," said Erin Bradley, the victim's sister.

Bradley said she and Christopher felt sorry for the juvenile and his siblings and would give them skateboards and talk to them.

Bradley said she was upset when police told her they'd been investigating the thefts in the neighborhood for a while, because she thought what happened to her brother could have been prevented.

Thefts from the neighborhood, mostly stealing from cars, were being investigated before the incident but police hadn't been able to connect them to any particular suspect, Selzer said.

Conway is charged with second-degree assault. Bond is set at $15,000.

Police continue to investigate the assault and search for the other suspects involved, Selzer said.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245