CENTRALIA, Wash. — As police in the South Sound are still hunting for the man who illegally gave a 13-year-old boy a tattoo, the boy is talking about how and why it happened.
The boy got the tattoo to celebrate surviving cancer but he didn't have his parents’ permission and he's not 18.
The boy, Andrew, showed KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Richard Thompson his tattoo and the nearby scar on his chest from where chemotherapy drugs went in to help him fight leukemia.
He said the dragon tattoo symbolizes his battle and survival.
“This is my scar for life and this is my badge of honor,” said Andrew. “Strength and courage and warrior.”
Andrew's parents are upset because someone illegally gave their son the tattoo.
“Somebody did it without asking us, without talking to us, without finding out how old he was,” said Andrew’s father, Angilo.
Andrew said he went with friends to a house in Rochester to get the tattoo, but it was dark and he can't remember exactly where it was. He just remembers it hurt.
“It felt like getting pinched about a million times,” said Andrew.
Andrew said the man who gave him the tattoo was Hispanic, wore glasses and his name was Ray.
His parents have driven the area trying to find the house, and police have searched licensed tattoo artists without success, but Andrew’s family still wants the man responsible found and held accountable.
It’s not OK, at all,” said Angilo.
Police said they've hit a dead end and ask anyone who might have information as to who the tattoo artist is to call the Centralia Police Department.
KIRO
