Archive for the ‘Police Calls’

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Where I’m Told I Don’t Have a Mom?!

Published May 16th, 2013 in Burnsville, Police Calls, South Metro | 19 Comments »

Yesterday while heading into a Burnsville business I have affectionately renamed “The Adult Treehouse”, I was approached by an elderly Asian woman with a cane. While I normally would not have mentioned her race, as she came towards me she held out a card which was attached to a lanyard around her neck and it was made clear to me the woman did not speak much, if any, English. On this card was a name, Burnsville address, and a phone number. After a few gestures it was made clear to me that I was to call the number on the card for instructions.

I called the number and spoke to a man who told me this was his mother, she was probably lost and lived nearby, and to put her on the phone. After she spoke to him she handed the phone back to me and he told me that I should just drive her to the address on the card which was likely nearby. Assuming he lived somewhere in the general area, I told him I’d wait with her until he arrived. Being that he lives in Brooklyn Park, he pressed me to just take her home, something I admittedly I replied to with something like, “You have got to be kidding me.”

Uncomfortable putting an elderly woman in my car and driving her several blocks home, sadly considering all the bad that could come from a man driving an unknown female home, I eventually agreed to temporarily care for the woman while I dialed 911. Dispatch rolled two Burnsville police cruiers who were en route almost immediately. Being that we were only two miles or so from the police station I rightly assumed they would be there in short order. Unfortunately when I told the woman that the police were on their way to escort her home she immediately, and quickly, began to hobble the wrong way on Nicollet away from me. I contacted 911 again to report her change and they asked that I stay with her as best as I could so that officers could locate her.

Both officers arrived and handled the situation from there. I tweeted about the incident and praised the Burnsville PD for their quick response:

Many thanks to the Burnsville PD for picking up the lost elderly woman who spoke no English but had a card w/her address around her neck.

However, while I did everything in my power to safely ensure the woman was cared for, I received a text from the man I had only a few minutes prior called about HIS mother who was wandering Burnsville lost:

Aside from that being the most ridiculous statement ever, I was flabbergasted. Not only did I help this woman by calling him but I ensured she was brought home by the safest ride I could have procured for her. I felt I did far more for her than he did, asking complete strangers to assist her in getting home safely, yet I’m the bad guy?!

Again, many thanks to the Burnsville PD and to the two officers who responded so quickly to help resolve this situation!

What do you think about this one? Should I have been chastised for the way I handled the situation? Would you rely on strangers to help your lost and confused mother get home? Would you have called 911 instead? If this happened enough to have your mother put this around her neck, would you do more to move her into a facility which was better equipped to handle people who may get confused or lost? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Mother Burns Child’s Face With Iron?!

Published May 15th, 2013 in Police Calls, South Metro | 13 Comments »


Iron originally uploaded by Eric Schmuttenmaer

According to this Dakota County Criminal Complaint, a West St. Paul mother has been charged with malicious punishment of a child after it was alleged that she used a clothing iron to burn her seven year old son on the face.

From the article:

A police investigator made contact with the seven year old male child. The child reported he is physically disciplined by his mother when he is “bad”. He explained the discipline includes “whooping” which sometimes involves his mother using a black belt with a silver buckle to discipline him. The officer asked the child about the visible mark on the child’s cheek. At this point, the police investigator explained the child’s body language changed and he became reclusive, quiet, and nervous. The child then disclosed his mother, Nachelle Denora Haggins, hit him with a black belt resulting in the injury to his cheek. The child explained he was scared, sad, and it hurt when Haggins struck his cheek with the belt. He stated Haggins directed him not to tell anyone how he received the injury. It is believed the injury occurred on or between May 4, 2013 and May 10, 2013.

The police investigator reported he observed the child to have an injury on his cheek that was consistent with a burn and whose shape was consistent with a clothing iron being pressed against the child’s face with the tip of the iron pointed towards the child’s mouth. A search warrant was executed on Haggin’s residence and police located an iron and a black belt with a silver buckle, inside her residence.

Haggins told police the injury on the child’s face was caused on May 4, 2013, while he was at the park in St. Paul or was near Marion Street. She explained the child had been running around with other kids and had fallen. She stated she had not been watching the child when he fell because she was on her phone.

Does burning a child’s face with an iron constitute more than a gross misdemeanor charge of ‘malicious punishment of a child’? Shouldn’t someone who burns their child be sentenced to something longer than a maximum of one year? Shouldn’t this person be burned repeatedly all over their body while in prison for their rest of their useless lives? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Savage Removes Hoops to Avoid Violence

Published May 8th, 2013 in Burnsville, Eagan, Police Calls, Savage, South Metro | 12 Comments »

According to this Savage Pacer article, the City of Savage had to take down basketball hoops at a park due to violence in the area which may have spilled into the modified lockdown at Burnsville High School last week. According to the City of Savage this has happened before due to violence in their parks and is an effective way to keep youth from the parks when there is a related public safety issue to the basketball hoops.

From the article:

Savage police received a call on Tuesday, April 30 about a possible fight that was going to occur at River Bend Park, 14347 Joppa Ave. Officers arrived at the park at about 6 p.m. and spoke with some of the teenagers who were gathered there. The teenagers denied the report of an impending fight, and the officers reminded them that they would take the basketball hoops down if criminal activity occurred. “We’ve told them before that if problems occurred out there, we’d take [the hoops] down,” Seurer said.

[...]

Seurer said that the city took down the basketball hoops at River Bend Park about two years ago because of a history of altercations at the park, but that the hoops had since been put back up. In the previous period that the hoops were down, there were “dramatically” fewer altercations at the park, Seurer said. “We’ve got kids out there practicing ball, out there on the playground, and we don’t want anyone to get hurt,” Seurer said of the decision to take down the hoops. “It’s a public safety issue.”

Seurer said the hoops have made the park a popular place for lots of kids to congregate, which can sometimes cause problems. When asked if the hoops might be put back up at some point, Seurer said that “it won’t be anytime soon.”

Are you surprised that limiting public safety calls is as simple as removing a set of basketball hoops from a park? Do you think the basketball hoops should ever go back up? Do you believe the fights planned for this park are related to the one that occurred at BHS causing a modified lockdown (which really isn’t a lockdown at all and should be how every day is handled at the high school)? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Drunk Mother Drives With 4 Month Old in Back

Published April 25th, 2013 in Burnsville, Police Calls, South Metro | 10 Comments »

According to this Dakota County Criminal Complaint, a 44+ year old woman was pulled over for DWI with her 4 month old in the backseat at 1:30 PM. With multiple convictions in the past for DWI, one has to wonder whether more should be done to protect this child from the mother.

From the complaint:

On November 21, 2012, at approximately 1:27 p.m., an officer in the City of Burnsville, Dakota County, Minnesota, was dispatched that a reporting party observed a female who appeared intoxicated get into a white Chevrolet pickup truck with Minnesota license plate number XRN950. The reporting party stated that the female had an infant with her and was staggering and walking into cars.

The officer located a vehicle matching the description of the reporting party with Minnesota license plate XRM950, driving in the location of the original report. The officer observed that a female was driving the vehicle. The officer followed the vehicle and observed it weave within her lane and hit a curb. The officer activated her squad lights and the suspect vehicle continued to speedy up. The vehicle continued traveling for approximately two blocks and eventually stopped for a red light. When the light turned green, the vehicle continued driving and eventually stopped north of that intersection. When the vehicle pulled over the driver drove onto the curb and parked.

The officer identified the driver as Christina Maria Thorne, date of birth: 7-30-1968. The officer could smell an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Thorne’s person and observed that her eyes were watery. The officer asked Thorne how much she had to drink. Thorne stated not much, and then stated that she had been trying and only had a couple of drinks that day. Thorn admitted that her four month old son was in a car seat in the back of the vehicle.

While nothing is mentioned about the future welfare of the child, with four DWI convictions over the last 15 years, two of which were over .20, one has to wonder whether she should ever be permitted to be with the child. This isn’t only about driving, this woman is likely intoxicated all the time around the child being that she’s very likely an alcoholic and hopefully she has opted for formula instead of breastfeeding.

What do you think about this one? Should the child endangerment charge coupled with the .22 DUI charge dissolve her rights as a parent especially knowing she was carting around an infant while nearly falling over drunk? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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