Fifth grader gets thrown in handcuffs for refusing back-to-school photo

Every parent of a fifth-grader knows the struggle. The chalkboard sign is ready. The backpack is new. The kid wants absolutely nothing to do with any of it. But one Colorado mom found a solution most of us never considered: she called the cops.

Amanda Stolz was driving her son Colton to his first day of fifth grade Monday morning in Keenesburg, a small town about an hour northeast of Denver, when he flat-out refused to pose for a back-to-school photo. So, when Stolz spotted Keenesburg Police Officer Jack Ross on the way to school, she pulled over and explained the situation. Officer Ross did what any reasonable law enforcement professional would do: he turned on his emergency lights, slapped the cuffs on Colton and informed him that “refusing your mom a first-day-of-school picture is, in fact, against the law.”

“He was giving me some trouble,” Stolz told CBS Colorado with the kind of understatement only a parent can deliver. “It was awesome that Officer Jack took it serious. We were like, ‘Well, I guess we have your back-to-school pictures now, don’t we?'”

CBS Colorado says they’re trying to confirm which state statute was cited as the offense, and whether booking photos are eligible for the school yearbook. Colton was not, for the record, actually hauled off to the clink. But Stolz did get exactly what she wanted: incredible first-day-of-school photos of her son in handcuffs, which she promptly posted to Facebook with the caption, “Here’s to 5th grade buddy!”

Let this be a warning to every kid in Colorado heading back to school this month: just smile, hold the sign and save yourself from becoming a “criminal.” Your mom will find a way.