13-year-old girl jailed for 13 days with adults

Authorities are investigating how a 13-year-old girl spent almost two weeks in the Dallas County Jail on a shoplifting charge.

Jasmine Lewis was released on probation after 13 days, with authorities apparently still unaware of her true name and age. Police say she told them she was 17 years old.

"It doesn't make any sense to have a 13-year-old in there," said her father, Joe Lewis. "They could have killed her. Something bad could have happened. She doesn't look 17. She looks 13, and I wonder why they didn't see that."

Senior Cpl. Roberto Garcia, who arrested Jasmine and a 20-year-old on July 10 on shoplifting charges at a Target store in Old East Dallas, said the girl – who is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds – did initially tell him that she was underage.

But the officer, a 34-year-veteran of the department, said she then gave him a name and date of birth that would make her an adult. He said he verified that name and age with a detective in the youth division, something that no one in the youth division can recall. Garcia said he doesn't recall the name of the detective.

"It's just the frustrating battle that we have out there in the real world," Garcia said. "I just have a heck of a time when these juveniles won't tell you who they are and they have no ID." Police officials say the situation is unusual. More often, they encounter adult suspects who pretend to be juveniles in an attempt to avoid jail.