A 10-year-old boy was left in tears after he was arrested for urinating behind his mum's car while she visited her lawyer's office. Cops in Senatobia in Mississippi have been forced to apologise after officers marched the African-American child into Latonya Eason's office on August 10 to inform her of the public indecency incident. The young boy, who was left alone in the car for 10 minutes, was set to get a warning from officers but once reinforcements arrived, they had changed their mind and wanted a tougher sentence. Latonya recalled the moment she was told by the officer her son had been caught peeing, she told FOX 13 Memphis : “I was like, ‘Son, why did you do that?’ He said, ‘Mom, my sister said they don’t have a bathroom there. I was like, "You knew better, you should have come and asked me if they had a restroom." A lieutenant demanded cops take the child into custody and be hit with a statute for being left unattended. The child, who was not handcuffed, was taken away by police. For all the latest news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US The child was taken away in a police car ( Image: FOX13 Memphis) The boy admitted he started crying when he was taken away by officers, he told Fox: "I started crying a little bit. They took me down there and got me out of the truck. I didn’t know what was happening. I get scared and start shaking and thinking I’m going to jail.' The town's police chief Richard Chandler was forced to address the arrest after the child's mum criticised their actions, he said in a statement: "We would like to address a recent incident involving the arrest of a 10-year-old child. In situations like these, the Youth Court Act guides how officers may deal with juveniles during enforcement encounters. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel Play now "The Youth Court Act allows officers to file a referral against a child as young as seven-years-old if they are in need of supervision (which may also be based on delinquent acts), or 10 years old if they commit acts that would be illegal for an adult under identical circumstances (i.e., a “delinquent” act),' he explained. "The need to transport children from a scene depends on a variety of factors and the availability of reasonable alternatives.' In this situation" he said, the unnamed arresting officer "personally witnessed a 10-year-old child committing an act in public that would have been illegal for an adult under these circumstances. The officer did not observe a parent on the scene during the initial contact. The mother was located at a nearby business shortly thereafter and she was advised that her child was going to receive a Youth Court Referral for this matter. Latonya Eason has slammed cops for their actions ( Image: FOX13 Memphis) "The officers then transported the 10-year-old to the police station to complete the paperwork where the child was released to the mother. The child was not handcuffed during this incident." Mr Chandler, who was named Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by First Responders of Mississippi in 2021, apologised to the mum for the police's conduct. He added: "Under these circumstances, it was an error in judgement for us to transport the child to the police station since the mother was present at that time as a reasonable alternative. Mistakes like this are a reminder in this profession as to the continual need for training and refreshers on the various topics that we encounter each day."