On the other hand...........uncharged
Posted on 05/07/2006 5:19:26 AM PDT by Mr. Brightside
Father Faces Felony Charges For Rushing To Injured Daughter's Side
POSTED: 12:22 pm EDT May 4, 2006 UPDATED: 6:27 pm EDT May 4, 2006
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. -- A panicked father who pushed past rescue workers to get to his injured daughter at the scene of a car crash now faces felony charges.
Karl Swanson of Holiday, Fla., told the St. Petersburg Times he got a call from his daughter's cell phone late Tuesday: "Listen," the caller said, "your daughter's been in a terrible accident. She's in critical condition. It doesn't look good."
Florida Highway Patrol troopers said the 48-year-old anesthesiologist drove into the accident scene, narrowly missing an emergency helicopter, then pushed past a trooper and a paramedic to get to his 18-year-old daughter's side.
Swanson was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and battery on an emergency medical care provider. He is free on $10,000 bond.
"Basically, he made a very serious and stressful situation worse," Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Larry Coggins said. "When people just relax for a second and listen to reason, we always let them see their loved one."
Swanson's daughter, 18-year-old Krystyna, remains in serious condition at a hospital. On Wednesday, he defended his response to the crash.
"They told me my daughter was dying," he said Wednesday. "They told me to go there. So that's what I did."
They didn't tell you to almost crash your car into the an emergency helicopter that was to take your daughter to the hospital
Unless he actually forcefully hurt someone give him a break.
I'd flip out too.
That's their story.
Who knows what the true story is.
On the other hand...........uncharged
I'm going to give him a pass on this. Who knows how any of us would react to a phone call like that.
I'm not sure calling a parent to the scene of an accident is the wisest move.
So, let me get this straight, after the father is told that his daughter is dying at a crash scene, he's supposed to relax, take a deep breath, meditate to achieve a higher consciousness, and then ask the cops' permission to see his dying daughter?
"When people just relax for a second and listen to reason, we always let them see their loved one."............ I do not blame the guy one bit. He is the girls father, they should have never tried to keep him from entering the accident scene. Nobody needs to LET me see my loved one, including cops or paramedics.
Just try getting between me and my hurt child and see what happens.
This is more adroitly posted by AP than usual. One can't tell whether AP is (1) glad a father is going to be charged with a felony (2) laughing at someone who rushed to the aid of their child or (3) glad that terrorist tactics have made officials so wary they fight off a man (clearly an American of long descent) by instinct, perhaps even causing him to panic, when he was only deeply afraid for his daughter.
Most people don't actually have any experience dealing with trauma, we just have a concentrated dose piled on us daily by the press, so I would expect this father would not have known what the correct protocols were, nor that they had probably been significantly tightened. That he was agitated probably only panicked the rescue workers. And AP gets to add to our malaise and unhappiness.
Win-win for the drive-by media once again. *sigh*
If you don't want a paniced parent on the scene, don't call the guy and tell him, "it doesn't look good".
Too bad his name isn't Patrick Kennedy.
What is your purpose in posting this?
That's going to be one really short deliberation by the jury.
The civil rights trial brought by the father against the police will be slighty longer and much more expensive.
The DA is an idiot.
tsmith?
Is your 1st name Travis and do you live in the D.C. area?
Just checking if you are my nephew?
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