11-year-old Crosby ISD student claims innocence after she's handcuffed at school

CROSBY, Texas (KTRK) -- An 11-year-old girl was handcuffed and taken into law enforcement custody after a false fire alarm call at Crosby Middle School.

"It was a long drive there," sixth grader Aaliyah Zarate said. "And it really freaked me out because my parents didn't know where I was."

The middle school student sat in the backseat of a deputy constable's patrol vehicle as she was taken to a juvenile processing center, where she was photographed and fingerprinted before being released to her parents.

"To this day, we have no information from the school or from the Precinct 3, the Constable," Aaliyah's father, Mark Zarate, said. "No type of paperwork as to what she was charged with. It was handled so unprofessionally. Very, very unprofessionally."

Police said they received a fire alarm call inside Crosby Middle School on Tuesday. The false report was traced back to Aaliyah's phone, but she claims another student took her phone and called 911 without her knowing.

According to Captain Kirk Bonsal with the Harris County Precinct 3 Constable's Office, because Aaliyah is more than 10 years old, the deputy constable followed policy by arresting and handcuffing her.

Bonsal said the district attorney is still investigating, and no criminal charges have been filed so far.

"She's a child. She wasn't a threat to anyone, to the police officers, to anyone at the school, to anyone," Aaliya's mother, Vanessa Zarate, said. "We're hoping that we're able to tell our story and this doesn't happen to other children, young children."

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