View Larger Map Jersey City police nab three 11-year-old boys and a 13-year-old on charges of slashing tires Saturday, July 24, 2010 By KATIE COLANERI JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Parents and police said they were shocked when three 11-year-olds and a 13-year-old, all of Jersey City, were arrested for allegedly slashing the tires of 18 cars in the area of Fowler Avenue on Wednesday evening, according to police reports. The 11 year-olds are from Armstrong, Van Nostrand and Sterling Avenues, and the 13-year-old is from Arlington Avenue. William Cathey Jr., of Jersey City, said he and a woman friend were outside when they saw four boys laughing and poking holes in the tires of several cars parked on the street. "The woman asked them, 'Why are you doing that?'" Cathey told The Jersey Journal. "The one kid replied, 'Because I'm bored.'" Cathey waved down police and described what he had seen, reports said. Police stopped four boys matching the descriptions on Stevens and Sterling avenues, where Cathey identified them, reports said. "I was shocked to see that going on in that neighborhood," Cathey said. When cops searched the boys, they found one had an orange pocket knife and another a black box cutter, reports said. "I don't understand, he's only 11 . ," said the mother of one boy. "He said he felt bad after he did it and I told him 'You should feel bad.'" The mother said the boys were coming from a swimming pool when the incident occurred and the reason he had the pocket knife was "because he said he needed protection from the other kids" at the pool. All four boys were charged with criminal mischief, possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, police officials said. "It's disturbing that children of such a young age have such disregard for the property of others and it doesn't speak well of today's society," said Police Chief Thomas Comey. "One can only hope that somehow they'll learn their lesson and not interact with the juvenile justice system again."