FRESNO — Elijah threw a water balloon at Maribel as she played in the frontyard. From the street, he teased her and called her names. Mad and wet, Maribel told Elijah to leave, then she threw a rock at him, drawing blood just above his left eye.
Most examples of this schoolyard staple -- boy hits girl, girl hits back -- end without arrests, felony charges or electronic monitoring anklets.
Then there is the case of 11-year-old Maribel Cuevas.
In April, police arrested the Fresno girl on suspicion of felony assault after Elijah Vang was hit with a rock. She spent five days in Juvenile Hall, then was placed under house arrest and forced to wear a monitoring anklet for 30 days. She is expected to stand trial in Juvenile Court today. If the allegation is found true, the fourth-grader could spend the next four years incarcerated.
Fresno police said the girl's actions were anything but child's play. Officers responding to a 911 call said they retrieved a 2-pound rock thrown by Maribel. It opened a deep gash that required stitches.
"If she had hit the kid on the temple, she could have killed him," said Fresno Police Sgt. Anthony Martinez. "Then the story would read, 'Little boy throws water balloon, little girl throws rock and kills him.' "
Fresno's mayor and police chief stand by the official handling of the incident. But the case of Maribel Cuevas has generated baffled, angry reactions from as far away as France, as observers question whether adult penalties are being levied on what amounts to childish behavior gone awry.
In this Central San Joaquin Valley city, hardly a hotbed of activism, the arrest has unleashed an outcry from activists who say that it is an example of police excess by a department with a poor history of community relations. A recent candlelight vigil in support of Maribel drew close to 100 people.
"What we have here is just kids being kids," said Richard A. Beshwate Jr., the girl's lawyer. "Somebody got hurt and it's unfortunate, but this behavior does not rise to the level of criminal activity."
Fresno County Assistant Dist. Atty. Robert Ellis said the department could not comment because the case involves a minor.
Elijah and Maribel live in a working-class neighborhood of Latinos and Asians, and both attend the same school. Maribel, the second of six children born to a ranch handyman and housewife from Guadalajara, struggled in school.
