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SALT LAKE CITY -- A Salt Lake City family is fighting the Salt Lake City Gang Unit after they say their son was wrongly accused of being a gang member. They say their son was photographed by officers with a sign saying he's a tagger, which is now in the police database -- but they're convinced officers have the wrong kid.
According to the boy's parents, officers pulled him out of school and accused him of vandalizing the school by painting gang symbols. Now his parents believe he was targeted because he is black.
Kaleb Winston, 14, was one of several students singled out as potential gang tagger at West High School on Dec. 16.
"I got a phone call from Kaleb, saying that he had an emergency," said his mother Lisa Winston. She says her son never has problems at school, so she was confused by the call.
When Kaleb got home, Lisa Winston said, "He was crying so bad he couldn't talk."
She says Kaleb told her the school's police officers and approximately 15 gang unit cops pulled him aside and detained him for about an hour, accusing him of gang activity. He denied that he was a gang member, but she says the officers insisted he was.
"Because he looks the type, was the answer that I got from them," Lisa Winston said.
She says the officers searched her son and his backpack, which was decorated with fabric that looked spray-painted. They then photographed Kaleb's sketch book and took a picture of him holding a sign that identified him as a "gang tagger."
"Once they got him up to the security office, they were asking him what gang was he in and, ‘Did you tag your bag?'" said Kaleb's father Kevin Winston.
Kevin Winston says Kaleb's backpack came directly from the store with what police say appears to be gang tags on it.
Lisa Winston says she tried to tell gang unit officers her son has no affiliation with gangs at all, that he works at the school, is an honor roll student and volunteers at other schools. Plus, she says he gets an allergic reaction to aerosol paint.
"They were like, ‘We know his gang name. It's ‘Maze.' I'm like, ‘Who in the hell is ‘Maze?'" Lisa Winston said.
The Winstons say they believe this incident was fueled by his race. They have filed a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, hoping the ACLU will take on their case and pursue legal action.
"Kaleb's never been under court order, never been arrested, never been in the juvenile justice system," Lisa Winston said. "They had no cause or no reason to do this to him. He's not a criminal."
Police told KSL the lieutenant over gangs was unavailable for comment. Calls to the Salt Lake City School District were not returned.
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Story compiled with contributions from Paul Nelson and Jennifer Stagg.
