City police officers involved in the arrest of a 7-year-old boy for sitting on a dirt bike in 2007 testified Wednesday during a civil trial that they followed proper procedures, denying allegations that they took the boy into custody as retaliation over a complaint filed by his mother.

The family of Gerard Mungo Jr. filed a $40 million lawsuit against six Baltimore police officers as part of a case being heard this week in Howard County Circuit Court. Gerard was handcuffed and taken into custody, an incident that drew a rebuke from Mayor Sheila Dixon and then-Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm. About 10 days later, the boy's mother was arrested during what police say was a drug investigation.

The plaintiffs contend that the arrests were retaliatory and without probable cause, and that the officers were wrong to arrest a child so young. But the officers, in their first public comments, said that the arrests were justified and followed department procedures, and that Maryland law offers few alternatives to arresting juveniles.

"The officers were acting consistent with their training and the protocols," said James Fields, an attorney representing the officers. "There are a lot of accusations being made, but what is at issue is whether their conduct was appropriate and legal, and they vehemently dispute any allegations of wrongdoing."

Gerard, who is now 9, testified Monday, saying that he was waiting to go to a dirt bike trail with his father when officers took him off the bike. He said the arrest made him "scared" and "sad," according to a recording of the hearing reviewed by The Baltimore Sun.

"What did you think was going to happen?" asked one of the family's attorneys, Allan B. Rabineau.

"I was never going to see my mother again," Gerard said, adding that one of his teachers now refers to him as "jailbird."

Officer Charles Grimes testified that he was on patrol when he saw a man ride down the block on the dirt bike. When the man turned the corner, he said, he saw "little Gerard" on the bike with the engine idling, and put his foot behind the wheel and asked the boy to climb off. Grimes said the boy hopped off without incident, and Grimes turned off the ignition.

He called Detective Donald Hayes, who at that time was a neighborhood services officer leading an initiative to confiscate dirt bikes, and Hayes took the vehicle to be impounded. He said Gerard's mother, 33-year-old Lakisa Dinkins, was angry, and he called his supervisor, Sgt. William Colburn, to inform him that a complaint was likely to be filed.

Hayes testified that Colburn told him, "If she calls, I'm going to order you to come back up there to lock him up."

The two debated whether it was legal to arrest a 7-year-old, and Colburn testified that he called an unidentified city prosecutor and asked, without providing details of the case, whether it was allowed. The state's attorney told them they could proceed, the officers testified, and Colburn ordered Hayes to make the arrest.

Hayes said that Gerard cried, "I don't want to go to jail, I don't want to go to jail," as his mother yelled at the officers. The boy was handcuffed and taken to the Eastern District, where he was handcuffed to a bench for 30 minutes before being taken to the Juvenile Detention Center.

"I put handcuffs on Gerard as per departmental policies," Hayes said. "It was for my safety as well as Mr. Mungo's safety."

Asked by Rabineau how many arrests he had participated in his career, Hayes said about 500.

"How many occasions have you arrested a 7-year-old?" Rabineau said.

"One time," Hayes replied.

Colburn said that the arrest was not a result of a complaint filed by Dinkins. He said that he spoke to the child about the law regarding dirt bikes, and the boy understood that what he did was wrong.

"Once I determined that he knew it was wrong and he did it anyway ... I thought the best option was to see if the juvenile justice system could offer him some guidance," Colburn testified.

A week later, three different plainclothes officers were on patrol in the neighborhood and chased a suspicious man into a home. Dinkins was arrested for creating a disturbance, but the plaintiffs contend that the incident was related to the dirt bike flap.