Mom Ticketed For Neglect After Calling Police To Help Free Toddler Locked in Car

[prprincess]

It's a shame. A similar thing happened to me when my son was one - I locked him AND my keys in the car. I was already beyond embarrassed and mortified as it was that I had made such a stupid mistake and had to call the cops, but to add insult to injury and give the poor woman a ticket...jeez. The entire situation still bothers me when I think about it to this day!!

 

[rastahomie]

It's a shame. A similar thing happened to me when my son was one - I locked him AND my keys in the car. I was already beyond embarrassed and mortified as it was that I had made such a stupid mistake and had to call the cops, but to add insult to injury and give the poor woman a ticket...jeez. The entire situation still bothers me when I think about it to this day!!

When my brother was a baby/toddler, I think he managed to lock himself inside a vehicle half a dozen times, if not more. He was a wiley little monster, that kid, and could create all kids of shenanigans in the time it took Mom to walk around to the back seat and get him. Fortunately my stepdad knew how to jimmy a lock and was always able to extract him, but still.

 

[prprincess]

When my brother was a baby/toddler, I think he managed to lock himself inside a vehicle half a dozen times, if not more. He was a wiley little monster, that kid, and could create all kids of shenanigans in the time it took Mom to walk around to the back seat and get him. Fortunately my stepdad knew how to jimmy a lock and was always able to extract him, but still.

Yes, this was after I tried jimmying him out with a wire hanger...since you're stepdad did it, I'm sure you won't judge me. I was afraid to post that part earlier! But it's honestly one of the scarier things I have experienced as a parent so far.

 

[rastahomie]

Yes, this was after I tried jimmying him out with a wire hanger...since you're stepdad did it, I'm sure you won't judge me. I was afraid to post that part earlier! But it's honestly one of the scarier things I have experienced as a parent so far.

I don't judge people, you're fine with me lol.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

This was very poor judgment on the police officer's part. It's basically saying that if there's an accident and a parent calls for help, that parent is being neglectful. And that's not a minor issue. If there is a custody situation, a ticket for child neglect could cause that parent to lose visitation.

I kind of wonder how old this police officer is, & if he or she has any children.

Btw, does anyone remember "Baby Jessica" from the 1980's? Interesting to compare that emergency to this one, & the very different, non-punitive reaction by the police to that accident, which was much more serious than this one.

Even as young as 31 and a non parent I would still just free the child without punishing the parent it's obvious she feels bad enough as it is

 

[willowsnn3]

But it is a law in most states. Has been for many years.
Probably mostly at the officer's discretion but a law never the less.
My now 24 year old grandson had to be "unlocked" twice when he was a baby. DD got a warning but no ticket.

 

[mummabear]

But it is a law in most states. Has been for many years.
Probably mostly at the officer's discretion but a law never the less.
My now 24 year old grandson had to be "unlocked" twice when he was a baby. DD got a warning but no ticket.

What is against the law-locking your child in the car?
There is a difference between locking your child in the car (purposeful) and your child getting locked in the car (accidental)

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Well one of the things I picked up on from the article is this:

"One of the adults also called a roadside service, and a representative said someone would be on the way to help in a half hour."

Ok I have AAA and while they usually come 30mins to an hour I wouldn't be calling them to get into my car when my child is inside especially given the outside temp was 93 degrees (car was 97 degrees inside when the child was able to be freed). I understand the thoughtprocess behind it but in that situation relying on roadside service to get your child out was probably not the best thinking (I get it situations get make you fuzzy in that department it was just an interesting thing to me).

I also have to wonder if the adult who called the roadside service actually told the rep that a child was locked in the car. Honestly, I'd imagine that rep would have told the adult to call the police immediately rather than wait on someone to come because you locked your keys in your car (which unfortunately I have done that) because locking your keys in your car isn't an emergency whereas your child being locked in your car can turn into an emergency--that's just my thoughts though so who knows what the phone conversation was like.

As for the ticket my main thought is they are likely trying to send a message. The child was fine, according to the doctor at the hospital, so there is that.

 

[3 MEN AND A BOAT]

Me and a friend were out once when his wife called him, she and her friend were at the mall with their daughter who was 2 at the time and the doors got shut accidentally. She called us in a panic, our response to her was break the window but just as we where on the phone a police officer heard them and came and used a slim-jim to open the door.

I don't really get the writing her a ticket

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Me and a friend were out once when his wife called him, she and her friend were at the mall with their daughter who was 2 at the time and the doors got shut accidentally. She called us in a panic, our response to her was break the window but just as we where on the phone a police officer heard them and came and used a slim-jim to open the door.

I don't really get the writing her a ticket

Calling your spouse is a very common knee jerk reaction. So is calling your parents too at certain ages.

But roadside assistance is not for situations like these. I'm sure they were all just trying to figure out something but with roadside assistance you're at the mercy of whoever can come to you whenever they can come to you. It's not designed for time sensitive stuff. That's why I mentioned I wondered if the rep knew there was a child locked inside the car because my guess is their responsibility would have been to have told the people to call the police immediately.

A quote from the CDC (don't know how old it is though) states the following: "When temperatures outside range from 80 degrees to 100 degrees, the temperature inside a car parked in direct sunlight can quickly climb to between 130 to 172." The outside temp was 93 degrees. I don't know if the car was parked in direct sunlight though.

So I get the whole outrage at the time the child was in the car and the reaction of the police (a ticket) but if they had waited for the 30 mins it would have taken (which who knows it could have been shorter or longer) for the roadside assistance to come then the outcome might not have been the child was fine-not saying death either just that the child might not have been fine.

 

[willowsnn3]

What is against the law-locking your child in the car?
There is a difference between locking your child in the car (purposeful) and your child getting locked in the car (accidental)

That is why I said it is most likely a ticketable offense at the officer's discretion. Both times my grandson was locked in was accidental but I work with people on a daily basis that have some kind of offense and most claim it was an "accident" or a "mistake"

 

[adisneyaunt]

Thankfully it all worked out and the child was safe after being removed from the locked vehicle.
I suppose I want to have confidence in our Law Enforcement Officers to use their judgement as they are on the scene and able to "see" the situation. I give them the benefit of the doubt.

Ticketing the mother? I don't know, but I do know that if he somehow he felt uncomfortable with the situation/story being told him and did it to be sure this was not a negligent situation, it is what it is. Perhaps he just didn't buy the story told him??

I think I would have broken the window long before calling AAA, and calling Police.
I hope people aren't deterred to ask for help because of a ticket issued/this case.

 

[Westcoastwild]

Thankfully it all worked out and the child was safe after being removed from the locked vehicle.
I suppose I want to have confidence in our Law Enforcement Officers to use their judgement as they are on the scene and able to "see" the situation. I give them the benefit of the doubt.

Ticketing the mother? I don't know, but I do know that if he somehow he felt uncomfortable with the situation/story being told him and did it to be sure this was not a negligent situation, it is what it is. Perhaps he just didn't buy the story told him??

I think I would have broken the window long before calling AAA, and calling Police.
I hope people aren't deterred to ask for help because of a ticket issued/this case.

That was my thought. They really should have just broken the window first thing.

15 minutes is a long time at those temps. Ever sat in your car, windows up, engine off, directly in the sun?

I'm wondering if they would have gotten the ticket if they'd called the cops right away. Sounds like they screwed around a bit- probably to avoid damaging the car- so I'm not entirely sure the cop was wrong to issue a ticket.

 

[brockash]

The quote I liked best is from police spokeswoman Tierney, who despite claiming the ticket is "not an overreaction" then went on to add...

"Don’t be afraid to call 911 for help," she said. "This could be a life or death situation."

I don't know... if I lived in Omaha, this would make me pretty darn reluctant to call 911 in a similar situation. I can use my own hammer to free the child, thank you. (Attempting, of course, not to send glass shards into my child's face!)

Thoughts?

wow, pretty insane. I had to call the police years ago when my then 1 year old got locked in the car of a parking lot. They were nothing but helpful and polite. I hope there's some serious backlash towards the idiots that thought this was any kind of a decent idea. Totally ridiculous.

 

[mummabear]

That is why I said it is most likely a ticketable offense at the officer's discretion. Both times my grandson was locked in was accidental but I work with people on a daily basis that have some kind of offense and most claim it was an "accident" or a "mistake"

In this case it is pretty clear that it is accidental.

 

[Albort]

Punish someone for doing the right thing? Yeah, that's definitely not immoral.

Just another source of revenue generation for the state.

honestly though, a ticket doesnt mean guilt. Im sure if she fights it in court, it probably go away.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I read about this the other day, and agree that it's ridiculous. It was clearly an accident, the mother was clearly trying to get the child out, and it's definitely going to stop other people from asking for help!

The current societal expectation that parents be absolutely perfect every second is really messed up. Accidents happen, even to people with the absolute best intentions, but parents are vilified for everything lately.

I get the psychological thing that we try to place blame to assure ourselves that the same thing won't happen to us, but I really don't feel it's always been that way. When did it change, and why?

 

[sam_gordon]

I suppose I want to have confidence in our Law Enforcement Officers to use their judgement as they are on the scene and able to "see" the situation. I give them the benefit of the doubt.

So LEOs can never make a mistake? Whatever they decide to do must have been correct because they're at the scene at the time? Those of you who think the ticket was justified, I ask this... where was the neglect?

 

[Ciao Mickey]

I've got a suggestion for anyone who thinks the mother wasn't negligent--wait until it's 93 degrees out, put your car outside in the sun and then sit in it with the windows rolled up for 15 minutes (or more, because who knows how long the child was really in the car) and then come back and report if you would leave your kid in there that long without immediately calling the police, or what I would do after a minute or two, break the damn window!

It's obvious that they worried more about a car window than kid.

If you read the article the aunt claims she left the keys in the car when she got out and then went to open the back door and a gust of wind blew the doors shut and locked them. How does that happen? A gust of wind blew both the front and back door shut and caused both doors to be locked?

Obviously there is more to the story and why there was a ticket issued. The article said that the police didn't believe what they were being told. The story sounds a little sketchy to me.

 

[3 MEN AND A BOAT]

I got a suggestion for anyone who thinks the mother wasn't negligent--wait until it's 93 degrees out, put your car outside in the sun and then sit in it with the windows rolled up for 15 minutes (or more, because who knows how long the child was really in the car) and then come back and report if you would leave your kid in there that long without immediately calling the police, or what I would do after a minute or two, break the damn window!

It obvious that they worried more about a car window than kid.

If you read the article the aunt claims she left the keys in the car when she got out and then went to open the back door and a gust of wind blew the doors shut and locked them. How does that happen? A gust of wind blew both the front and back door shut and caused both doors to be locked?

Obviously there is more to the story and why there was a ticket issued. The article said that the police didn't believe what they were being told. The story sounds a little sketchy to me.

I think you might be right. Their is definently something that doesn't add up with this story. I mean how long would the adults have continued to wait? 20min, 30min, 45 min, an hour or two? Police aren't around every corner, so just because they called they could have waited another hour for an officer to arrive.