Posted on 09/16/2006 8:18:06 AM PDT by Abby4116
5-Year-Old Boy Found 30 Minutes Later; Police Called It An Accident, File No Charges
POSTED: 8:07 pm EDT September 15, 2006 UPDATED: 8:59 am EDT September 16, 2006
Edgemoor Gardens, Del. -- A Delaware mother left her 5-year-old boy inside her car to run into her home and make a phone call before driving him to school. But when she returned 10 minutes later, the car and her child were gone.
It turned out a 'repo man' took her car with the boy still inside.
"The car was parked right here," said Rosalie Hargroves said, standing at the end of her driveway on North Pennewell Drive.
After returning and not seeing her 1997 Saturn -- or young Xavier, who was strapped in a backseat booster seat -- Hargroves said, "I ran down the street, around the corner. I'm looking everywhere, and I don't see a sign of the car going up the street or anyone outside that had seen it. So, I ran back and I called the police."
Hargroves told officers someone stole the car, having no idea it was repossessed.
Thirty minutes later, after getting a call from police, a worker at Roberts Motors in Newport found the 5-year-old still sitting in the car, crying.
"How did (the repossession man) not know? Well, the reality is the child was probably scared half-to-death," said Cpl. Trinidad Navarro of the New Castle Co. Police Dept. "This is a stranger who he's probably been taught not to talk to and didn't really know what to do."
Hargroves said she's relieved her boy is OK, but she cannot believe the driver won't be charged with a crime.
"How could you not see him… the child in the back. I mean, are you serious? If they believe him, they're crazy, too," said Hargroves, shrugging in disbelief. "It's unbelievable."
Navarro said, "We're not going to charge anyone in this case. It appears as if it was just an accident."
But Hargroves said her son told her the repossession man looked at him, then used a key to get into the car.
Xavier was inside the home sleeping after his ordeal. Hargroves said he was exhausted, shaking and very scared. She took him to Christiana Hospital to be checked out.
The mother said she wants an apology from the repossession man but still was waiting for that.
I bet Rosalie is behind on her rent, too ....
I can't believe they are saying no crime was involved...
You DO NOT leave your child in your car. PERIOD!
She owed money on a 10 year old Saturn? And couldn't pay it?
The kid's probably better off getting repossessed.
It sounds as if the car was locked in her own driveway. I don't see it as being much different than a child playing in the driveway (still legal as far as I know). But I do see a real problem of the repo man TAKING THE CHILD.
Good point -- according to Kelley Blue Book, Private Sale value is only $1,800-$2,500 (I looked at a couple of models to get a range).
I loved that movie!!! I had the soundtrack too, also very, very good!
Maybe she was late on her child payments as well...
Those few minutes were all Ron Roberts, a Newport auto dealer, needed to repossess Hargroves' beige 1997 Saturn station wagon because she was a month late on her payments. Roberts drove the car 10 miles to his dealership, parked it and walked away.
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060916/NEWS/609160358/1006/NEWS
She won't be after Roberts Motors in Newport settles out of court with this gentlemen.
They'll reposess after being only a month late? I always thought you had to skate on payments for 3 or 4 months at least before the repo-man comes looking for your car.
I'm sure she paid waaaay more than that counting interest. She's probably low income with poor credit and bought her car from a "BAD CREDIT! NO PROBLEM!" type of dealership. The Saturn was probably way overpriced and her interest rates were huge.
oh i agree. the repo man was wrong. if the mom hadn't made
such a serious error in judgement, by leaving her son in the
car for 10 mins, she would have only had to discover her car
had been repo'ed. i think that's much better than also having
to find her son.
My wife and I screwed up and bought a car from one of those places when we were starting out and had no credit. They will come after your car if you are late at all on your payment, at 21% interest. The car got us through college though, and we traded in for a brand new car at a reputable dealer after we had real jobs.
So, Mr. Repo should have dumped the child on the curb?
That does not pass the smell test; 3 or 4 months maybe, or repeatedly a month late.
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