Student arrested for stealing 65-cent milk carton, despite being on the school's free lunch program

Police said they charged the student because he attempted to conceal the milk carton.

Milk. (Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press)

A middle school student in Virginia was arrested and suspended after being accused of stealing a 65-cent milk carton — despite being on the school’s free lunch program.

The Graham Park Middle School student said that he was accused of stealing the milk and grabbed by a police officer while standing in the lunch line.

His mother said that her son is on the school's free lunch program and was not required to pay for it.

“They are charging him with larceny, which I don’t have no understanding as to why he is being charged with larceny when he was entitled to that milk from the beginning,” Shamise Turk, told WJLA.

Police said they charged the student because he attempted to conceal the milk carton.

“This is ridiculous, this beyond embarrassing,” Turk told reporters. “I’m angry, I’m frustrated, I’m mad. It just went too far.”

When the student was taken to the principal’s office he was also searched for drugs. However, a Prince William County Schools spokesperson said that he student’s actions determined his punishment.

“The need for disciplinary action is determined by how a student behaves throughout any given incident,” the school spokesperson said in a statement to WLJA. “An appeals process is in place to ensure the fairness of any disciplinary action.”

Schools across the country have been shown to punish black students more often than their white counterparts. Forty-percent of students expelled from schools each year are black and 70% of students arrested in school involve black or Latino students, according to the Civil Rights Data Collection’s 2009-2010 statistics.