VEAZIE (AP) – An 8-year-old boy has been charged with aggravated assault for his role in a fight with another boy of the same age, police said.

The fight started at a school bus stop Friday and continued after school at another location, said Veazie Police Chief Mark Leonard.

The accused boy, whose name has not been released by police, was arrested in handcuffs at his family’s home Friday.

Leonard said the boy was charged with aggravated assault because of the way witnesses described the alleged victim’s injuries. Police did not release details of the injuries or identify the boy.

The accused boy was handcuffed because of the crime’s severity and police department policy, Leonard said. “It basically boils down to an officer safety issue. If you’re arrested, you’re handcuffed,” he said.

The mother of the accused boy said her son was not involved in the altercation at the bus stop, but he was involved in a separate fight with the alleged victim after school outside her house.

“They were play wrestling and it turned into a fight, which I broke up,” she told the Bangor Daily News, adding that she sent the other boy home and grounded her son for a couple of days. “It’s a situation that got totally blown out of proportion.”

She said there were no broken bones, bruises or cuts visible on the alleged victim. “I’m still dumbfounded. … It was just an 8-year old scuffle,” she said.

The victim was injured in the fight and photographs were taken for evidence, Leonard said, adding that the aggravated assault charge stems from how the 8-year-old suspect inflicted the injuries.

The accused boy’s mother said the incident hasn’t discouraged the alleged victim from visiting his alleged assailant.

“Since the incident, he’s been over here twice asking to play with (my son),” she said Tuesday.

AP-ES-09-03-03 1031EDT