A kid was trying to stop a package theft. Instead he was attacked by a postal worker.

A boy trying to stop a package theft was attacked Sunday afternoon by a postal worker even though the postal worker knew the boy was not the thief, Lexington police said.

The alleged attack happened around 2:30 p.m. in the 200 block of Bassett Avenue, off Richmond Road, said Lt. Paul Boyles with Lexington police. A postal worker had dropped off a package when a kid picked up the package to steal it, police said. A second kid approached the alleged thief and told the alleged thief to stop. The alleged thief ignored him and continued to walk with the package.

The postal worker saw the confrontation, Boyles said. The alleged thief ran away and eventually dropped the package, but the postal worker chased down and attempted to detain the kid who was trying to stop the theft, Boyles said.

“The postal worker assaulted the wrong kid,” Boyles said.

The postal worker said he knew the kid he allegedly assaulted was not the alleged thief, Boyles said, but the kid was guilty by association.

It was not immediately available how the kid was assaulted. He received minor injuries and a report for fourth-degree assault was taken. Boyles said because the alleged assault was between two parties that weren’t related and did not occur in police presence, no arrests were made. However, the boy’s mother can decide to press charges.

Efforts to reach postal officials Sunday evening for comment were unsuccessful.

This story was originally published November 19, 2017 at 6:30 PM with the headline "A kid was trying to stop a package theft. Instead he was attacked by a postal worker.."