Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Brown said he will not file charges against four kids who stole his Mercedes-Benz because they have experienced “generational poverty,” Fox News reported.
Brown has enthusiastically supported the Defund the Police movement, contributing to it in his official capacity by voting last year to reduce the Atlanta Police Department’s budget by $73 million.
The city council rejected the proposal by a slim margin.
Crime in Atlanta, as in most major cities, has spiked as police officers lose resources, respect, and public support.
Shortly after Brown exited his car on Wednesday to attend a community event, four kids jumped into the car as he stood only a few feet away.
Brown said the kids ranged in age from 6 to 12 years old.
Brown was talking with Ben Norman of the Dixie Hills Neighborhood Association when the kids hit his push-to-start ignition.
“One kid was in the driver’s seat,” Brown said. “Ben attempted to open the door to get him out of the car. He fought with Ben. I then engaged and tried to get him out of the car. The three other kids were trying to figure out how to get in the car or stay out of the car. He started to hit on the gas.”
Norman said the kids had planned to steal the white Mercedez-Benz as they loitered close by.
“We tried to go there and maybe try to get the kid out of the car. So, I’m like, what do you do to a kid, right?” he said. “He had already starting figuring out…I mean they had plans, they knew what they were going to do. He hit the gas and he pulled out, peeled out, and took off.”
Brown held onto the car as the driver accelerated and was dragged about half a block.
“As he started to speed up, and I knew that if I had not let go, I knew I probably could have killed myself because he was going so fast, I would have started to tumble. And I would have hurt him,” he said.
The carjacking could have caused serious injuries for both Brown, Norman, and the kids, but he said he will not pursue charges.
He did, however, file a police report. Atlanta police recovered the vehicle a few hours later. No arrests related to the carjacking have been reported.
“This is a generational poverty issue. These kids, it’s 12:30 in the afternoon. Why aren’t they in school? Why aren’t we enforcing systems to ensure that if they are not in school, they’re in recreational centers?” he asked.
Brown said the government needs to create more programs to get kids to stop stealing cars at noon on Wednesday.
“The reality is this: We need programmatic initiatives in place to help support these kids to be able to give them another pathway instead of them of them committing crimes,” he said, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
Brown announced two weeks ago that he will run for mayor this November. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms will not seek reelection to a second term.
