HOLLIDAYSBURG - To therapist Charles Oglesby of Teaneck, N.J., a 17-year-old Newark, N.J., boy arrested by Altoona police in August with a loaded 9 mm handgun is one of his success stories.
He said the juvenile wants to leave gang violence behind but is having a hard time letting go of what Oglesby called "street loyalty."
To Blair County District Attorney Richard A. Consiglio, the teen with three robbery convictions in the past year is a violent individual who "needs to placed where he is locked up for a while."
Consiglio and Assistant District Attorney Derek Elensky recommended the teen be sent to a state youth center where he would be off the streets and could receive counseling and education.
The two views led to a "spirited debate" before President Judge Jolene G. Kopriva on Friday.
Kopriva decided to place the teen in the custody of his mother in Newark, where he can continue his counseling with Oglesby, an adolescent specialist with the Moving on Life Center Inc. of Teaneck.
Oglesby said his job is to wean gang members away from their violent lifestyle.
The teen, who began counseling sessions with Oglesby in March, came to Altoona, where he has relatives, in early August. He was here five days when city police were called to a disturbance and found him hiding under a trampoline. Next to him was a loaded 9 mm handgun.
He allegedly was also carrying marijuana and had been drinking.
Oglesby said the teen came to Altoona on his advice to get away from gang violence in New Jersey.
Consiglio said the teen is a member of the Cherry Street Crips in Newark, and he objected to sending the teen back to Newark, where he said gangs control his neighborhood.
Consiglio called the teen's handling by New Jersey "a joke."
"There's no doubt New Jersey has been dumping their problems on us. There's no doubt he should be in a secure facility," Consiglio added.
The teen said that he is getting his life together and said being part of a gang "is not what I want to be. I'm starting to change," he said.
Kopriva said Oglesby had a more complete picture of the teen.
" I am not sure [the boy] is a gang member out to kill everyone," Kopriva said.
She placed the juvenile on probation and ordered him to stay away from Blair County. Kopriva said she intended to call the New Jersey judge handling the teen's case in an effort to have him placed as quickly as possible in either boot camp or a job corps program outside the Newark area.
The teen pleaded guilty to a former convict not to possess a weapon charge and a firearm not to be carried without a license charge.
His Blair County attorney, Michael Adams, said after the lengthy afternoon hearing that Kopriva's decision was " a good move." He said when one pulls back the layers of the 17-year-old's personality, "there are redeeming qualities."
Consiglio said he believes the boy is a danger.
"I may be wrong. ... I'll be glad if I am wrong," he said.
Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.
