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11-Year-Old To Face Judge For Writing Name In Wet Cement
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 6, 2011
Modified Jan 6, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 6, 2011
Modified Jan 6, 2011
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A gang of tween vandals were "tagging" their names in wet cement outside their school in Middlesex, New Jersey recently when the local constabulary happened upon them. Taking swift action, police collared the young hoodlums, took them downtown for questioning, and finally handed them over to their parents, who signed an agreement to punish the children and paid a $250 fine each—except the father of 11-year-old Kelly Zierdt, who is refusing to pay his daughter's debt to society. And now his little princess is being called before a judge to face justice.
The sixth grade scofflaw tells Fox 9 that when police arrived at the scene, she heard an officer say, "Let’s put these kids in the back of the car; we’re bringing them to headquarters. And then me and my friends started crying our eyes out." Now she's "scared because I'm going to have to go like in front of the judge and stuff." But her dad Harry refuses to back down, and insists his daughter has learned her lesson simply because of the "embarrassment of having to go down to the police station." He also points out that his precious darling is an honor student, and made sure to get her in front of the news cameras playing piano like a little angel.
We suppose that if you hand in your homework on time and can play Chopsticks on a keyboard, that gives you the right to deface public property? With parents like Harry Zierdt, it's no wonder Middlesex has the highest rate of sidewalk name-writing in the lower 48! Yes, we just made that up, but we all know that sidewalks across America are riddled with the names of blackguards and reprobates like little Kelly here, and it's time to send a message. And don't let her adorable little face fool you—today it's sidewalk graffiti, tomorrow she's slitting your throat for Silly Bandz money. This story just makes us grateful that this kind of degenerate behavior isn't tolerated here in NYC.
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middlesex
name in cement
scofflaws
sidewalk cement
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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