BOSTON, April 18, 2012—A 12-year-old boy was arraigned yesterday after Boston Police officers recovered a loaded handgun from the Roxbury yard where they’d seen him toss something, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Assistant District Attorney Brooke Watson of Conley’s Juvenile Unit recommended that the Roxbury youth be held on $10,000 cash bail or, in the alternative, house arrest with GPS moinitoring. Boston Juvenile Court Judge Paul Lewis imposed the $10,000 cash bail.

The defendant is not being identified because juvenile proceedings are closed to the public. He is charged with delinquency, to wit: unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm.

“Think of the damage a child of that age could do with a loaded firearm,” Conley said. “Think of the harm he could cause, to someone else or even himself. Who on earth would give a 12-year-old a gun, and for what possible reason?”

Boston Police patrolling the area of Mt. Pleasant, Forest, and Vine streets on Saturday evening observed a group of about five youngsters walking together toward the officers’ unmarked car. As the group walked along Forest Street toward Mt. Pleasant Street, the officers observed one of them toss an object into a residential front yard.

The officers noticed that the youngsters had an apparent interest in their actions, allegedly watching the officers and looking back at the car as they passed. Their own interest now piqued, one officer approached the front yard to see what had been discarded there.

The item was a silver colored handgun, later determined to be a Bryco Arms .380 caliber handgun loaded with six rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber ready to be fired. The officer at the front yard notified his partner of what he’d found and the group of youngsters began to run away.

The officer at the yard secured the firearm and broadcast a description of the group as his partner gave chase in his cruiser. Additional Boston Police units assisted and soon received information that the group had run into a Greenville Street address.

The officers located four members of the group at and near that address. In short order they located the defendant’s apartment and spoke to his mother. She, the 12-year-old defendant, the four other members of his group, and their parents or other interested adults were all brought back to the Area B-2 station for interviews.

Each of the youngsters – now identified as ranging in age from 11 to 15 – was informed of his Miranda rights. Their parents uniformly declined to allow them to be interviewed, and four of them were released. The defendant was placed under arrest.

The juvenile is represented by attorney Stephanie Soriano.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.