16-Year-Old Calls Police On Father Who Took Away Her Phone As Punishment

A 16-year-old Ohio girl called police to arrest her father, Saturday, after he took away her phone which she believed she was entitled to have.

The teen called 911 and complained "My father took my property, which is an $800 phone that doesn't belong to him. He didn't buy it."

South Euclid Police Department said in a statement that when the officers responded to the call, she told them that her father had stolen her phone and that she wanted it back.

“The girl insisted it was a theft and she was entitled to have the phone back,” the police said.

Her dad, Anthony Robertson, however, had a different story to tell. He said he had not stolen the phone but taken it for “disciplinary reasons.”

"I took her phone because she's a juvenile, and I don't want her to have it. I can't inspect it because the phone is locked, so I took it away,” he told police.

The responding officers then told the girl that “having a cell phone under the age of 18 is a ‘privilege’ and not a ‘right’ as she believes” and also suggested she “follow the rules her father set, if she hoped to get the phone returned.”

When asked if he would return the phone after his daughter filed a theft compliant, the father said, “Most definitely not. I can watch her attitude. When her attitude changes then I’ll give it back to her.”

"Our department would not pursue this type of 'theft’. You'd be hard pressed to find a court in this country who would take the case,” said Lt. James Wilson of the South Euclid Police Department.

In a similar incident in September 2018, a mother was in court after she took away her daughter's cell phone as punishment in Michigan. Jodie May took away her daughter’s iPhone 6 after she got into trouble at school. She was charged with misdemeanor after her ex-husband told police that he owned the phone. However, investigation showed that the phone belonged to her daughter and not the ex-husband.

"The mother defendant being the mother of the minor child, I believe that changes the case significantly. Therefore we're requesting that the charges be dismissed,” the assistant prosecutor said, NBC-affiliated television station KCRA reported.

"I was just being a mom, a concerned parent and disciplining my daughter. I can't believe I had to be put through it, my daughter had to be put through it, my family. I'm very surprised, but I'm very happy with the outcome," May said outside the courtroom.