By ANDREW RAMOS wpix.com

6:32 p.m. EST, February 6, 2010
FOREST HILLS, N.Y. (WPIX)—
A 12-year-old student was arrested and quickly branded a delinquent after she apparently doodled her name on a classroom desk.

Alexa Gonzalez, a student at Junior High School 190 in Forest Hills, was led out of school Monday in handcuffs for simply writing "Lex was here. 2/1/10" accompanied with the classic smiley face. Gonzalez says she was trying to kill time while she waited for her Spanish teacher to pass out homework.

Using an erasable lime-green magic marker, she also wrote "I love my friends Abby and Faith" on the desk.

Gonzalez, who has a spotless attendance record, said she was shocked when she was handcuffed and taken into custody at the police precinct across the street from the school.

According to the 12-year-old's mother, her daughter was questioned and released several hours after she was initially detained.

Gonzalez appeared in family court Tuesday where she was assigned eight hours of community service, a book report and an essay on what she learned from her mistake.

Nearly a week after the incident, Department of Education officials are now acknowledging that Gonzalez' arrest should have never happened.

"The principal made a mistake and has lifted the suspension," a DOE spokesman told PIX News in a statement. "The child may return school. The principal is speaking to the parent today."

Gonzalez' arrest comes just a day after a Staten Island student was nearly suspended from school for bringing in a 2-inch plastic lego gun.