Boy Won’t Be Charged After Retrieving Ball
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FORT GIBSON, Okla. — Chance Wineberger was just doing what countless kids have done countless times: retrieving a baseball from the yard next door. But this got him a trespassing citation--and now an apology.
The Oklahoma Historical Society has said it’s sorry for citing the 9-year-old boy for trespassing after he retrieved a baseball from Fort Gibson Military Park.
Blake Wade, the society’s executive director, said that efforts must be made to preserve the 173-year-old Fort Gibson, but penalizing the boy for going after the ball he hit into the park from his front yard amounted to an overreaction.
“We also fully understand that this is America, and hitting a baseball is as natural as eating apple pie for any 9-year-old boy,” Wade said.
The trespassing complaint ordered Chance to appear in city court in two weeks to face the accusation and a possible $57 fine.
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