Mom has son arrested over Pop-Tart theft

A mother’s love for her children is unconditional… unless there are Pop-Tarts involved.

As the Charlotte Observer reports, Latasha Renee Love of Charlotte, N.C. called the police on her son after she allegedly caught the boy with his hand in the most sacred of all jars: her Pop-Tarts stash.

Cookies are fair game, and everyone knows that chocolates are yours provided you can find your mom’s secret hiding spot (Hint: they're always in a cooking pot somewhere). But Pop-Tarts? Well, for some people that warrants a juvie sentence.

Police actually showed up at Love’s home in response to the call and, after speaking to her about the incident, actually decided to arrest the boy and charge him with misdemeanor larceny.

Also see: Woman calls 911 because she wants a divorce

No, this is not an extremely late or super early April Fool's joke.

The woman’s neighbour Fred Patrick told NBC News he “could not stop laughing” when he heard about the case.

"He seems real nice to me. I mean, he is real respectful," Patrick says.

Another neighbor has a different approach when it comes to children eating food in her home. "It would be nice if they asked, but they don't. They are kids," Tiffany Covington adds.

While this sort of story could launch a million terrible pastry jokes, it turns out there’s a not-so-sweet side to the whole ordeal.

Also see: Ten-year-old calls 911 to avoid bedtime

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police told reporters that the mother spoke to police about a long history of disciplinary problems with her son and asked if they would teach him a lesson.

"I see a lot of parents who have a problem with their children. It becomes really desperate," Det. Keith Way tells the news network. "The totality of the circumstances and I think at that particular time that was the best choice that was made."

Instead of criminal court, the boy will enter a specialized court program aimed at preventing kids from ending up in a life of crime.

The boy may forever loathe the sight of frosting, but his alleged crime still pales in comparison to the reason some mothers call the cops on their children. As BBC News notes, a 12-year-old South Carolina boy found himself on the wrong side of the law after he dared to open his Christmas presents early.

And as he surely learned, it’s never a good idea to anger Santa.