Deputies said a 9-year-old and his 10-year-old brother were arrested for threatening them inside a store.
The incident happened over the weekend at the Dollar Tree along Wendy Court in Spring Hill. The mother of the children said her sons ran away after she punished them for not cleaning their rooms.
“Anytime I go to reach out for help, I’m put as the bad guy or as if I didn’t do enough and that’s not the case,” the Hernando County mother said.
ABC Action News is not identifying the mother or her children. She said they have mental health issues and she believes the system has failed her. The mother said the sheriff’s office was justified in charging her two boys. She said she is not upset at the sheriff's office.
“A lot went through my head. For one, I’ve been trying to get help for them for a long time and the right help,” she said.
Authorities were left with no choice, Saturday, when the incident played out at the store. According to deputies the 9 -year-old and 10-year-old became angry when they realized deputies were going to take them home and not to foster care like they wanted, after running away. According to deputies, the 10-year-old told officers he was not afraid, claiming he has already fought an officer. Authorities said the 9-year-old threatened them with a box cutter, refusing to put it down.
The mother said she is a single mom of 8, trying to do her best.
“I feel like they should be held accountable, but I’m afraid that part of that accountability is going to fall on me as a parent saying that I didn’t do what I was supposed to do,” she said.
Her 10-year-old faces charges for threatening a public servant and resisting. Her 9-year-old is charged with 3 counts of aggravated assault.
