The State - News from May 7, 1989

A 9-year-old San Diego boy who turned in a teen-age drug dealer after the youth tried to sell him marijuana was honored with a city proclamation and a toy badge from the police chief who said, “Now you are one of us.” Joshua Nash, a third-grader at John Adams Elementary School, also received passes to the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park and a Padres baseball game. “There’s a lot of people who think you did a wonderful thing,” San Diego Police Chief Bob Burgreen told Joshua while pinning the badge on him during an assembly at the school. The incident occurred on April 11 when a 14-year-old boy offered to sell Joshua marijuana near the school. Joshua, who had learned how to report crimes to police from a television public service spot, called 911 from a nearby phone booth. When police arrived, Joshua pointed out the boy, who was arrested and taken to Juvenile Hall. “I gave him a bigger allowance,” said Joshua’s mother, Patty Nash.