The officer apparently disagreed with the punishment his son received for a shoplifting arrest. Credit: Metro Archive
An off-duty correction officer allegedly shot his 17-year-old son after the two got into a fight about the teen’s shoplifting arrest.
Robert Smalls, 39, wanted his son, Quasaun, to be more severely punished for stealing merchandise from a Home Depot, The New York Post reports.
Quasaun had returned to the family’s Woodside home about 4:30 a.m. Sunday after police let him go with a desk appearance ticket. The teen’s father wanted his son to be put through Central Booking for an arraignment hearing, the Post reports.
The argument escalated and Smalls allegedly shot Quasaun in the stomach. The father then called 911. The teen was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
Smalls told police he thought his son was an intruder, according to the New York Daily News.
“By the time I realized it was my son, the gun had discharged,” Smalls said, according to court papers.
He said he heard steps inside his home and saw a figure, his son, approach him, seeming to reach into his pocket. Smalls shouted “Police” and asked who it was with no answer.
Smalls then shot his son “because of feeling in immediate danger,” he told police, according to court papers.
Smalls was charged with assault and weapons possession. On Monday, a judge ordered he be held on $50,000 bail, which his mother plans on posting.
An order of protection was also issued barring Smalls from contacting his son.
