Truck tows minivan with baby left alone inside

Bangor Daily News ^ | today | staff

[Rodney King]

Truck tows minivan with baby left alone inside

WATERVILLE (AP) — The city has suspended its contract with a towing company that towed an illegally parked minivan in which a 13-month-old baby had been left alone inside. The suspension Wednesday came as police were reviewing an incident the evening before in which a driver for Interstate Towing towed a Dodge Caravan from a fire lane at Elm Plaza.

Police withheld the name of the baby's mother, who was driving the van. She told police she had gone into a bookstore to buy a magazine and left the child in the vehicle. Police quoted her as saying she ran out of the store and chased the tow truck through a downtown parking lot and onto Upper Maine Street before she was able to stop the driver. The child was unhurt.

Towing company owner Philip Sweet said drivers are instructed not to tow vehicles with people or animals inside. He said the driver, Jon Loiselle, could not see inside the van because it was dark and the vehicle had tinted windows.

Police Chief John Morris said he planned to have the district attorney review the case to see if charges should be filed against Interstate. Sweet said if he's charged, police should also take action against the mother who left her child unattended. Morris said he understands that people may question the mother's decision. “In my opinion, the mother was wrong for leaving the infant in the car; however, what she did does not rise to the level of criminal behavior,” Morris said. “However, we're in communication with the DA who is reviewing the issue of both the driver and the mother,” the chief added.

[Rodney King]

How about arresting the mother? Leaving a baby inside a car alone at night? I feel bad for the tow-truck driver. The poor guy was just doing his job. It was nightime and the car had tinted windows, it would have been difficult to see a baby. It was the mother who created the dangerous situation. She is the one who should be punished.

[Conservababe]

The mother should be arrested and charged with neglect of a child. What if a car thief, instead of a tow truck operator, had taken control of the vehicle?

[Nick Danger]

911 Dispatch.

They towed my baby.

They what? Who Ma'am... what are you talking about?

My baby! My baby has been towed away!

Mental Health Emergency Response Team to 174 East Crawford... see the woman... claims her baby was towed.

[Bonaparte]

Those were my thoughts too, initially. Didn't the tower have to slim jim the car open to release the brake and put it in neutral? Wouldn't the dome light have come on? Wouldn't that have given him an opportunity to notice a baby in the back seat?

The mother was insane to leave the child alone but the tower may also be at fault here.

[KineticKitty]

Ok, so the tow truck driver might be able to claim a "tinsy bit" of responsibility. But dear "mommy" certainly bares all responsibility for creating this situation.

[Rodney King]

Those were my thoughts too, initially. Didn't the tower have to slim jim the car open to release the brake and put it in neutral? Wouldn't the dome light have come on? Wouldn't that have given him an opportunity to notice a baby in the back seat?

Oh, I don't know. Is that how towing works? That would still not exonerate the mother though.

[A CA Guy]

I'm sure the mother was French!

[Amelia]

She must have been taking her sweet time buying that magazine, if they had time to call a tow truck, it get there & tow the vehicle....

Good thing it wasn't hot last night.

I saw a tow truck today with an SUV on the back of it, with the driver still in the SUV. I didn't think that was legal.

[hole_n_one]

lol!

[GovernmentShrinker]

That must have been some magazine she was buying! Worth the risk of leaving her baby alone in an illegally parked vehicle . . . Can somebody please get this woman's tubes tied, before she thinks of another magazine she wants more than her baby?

[GovernmentShrinker]

Hot? This happened in Waterville, Maine, where daytime highs have been in the 30s this week. It's a good thing the tow truck driver got there before the kid FROZE! If she hadn't heard the towing, the mother would no doubt have stayed in the store browsing magazines for a good deal longer.

[babygene]

Rodney, did you ever have kids? It not particulary dangerous to leave a kid alone in a car for a few minutes.

Of course there are exceptions to this; for instance if it's 100 degrees outside. However on a sub zero night, it may be in the best (and safest) intrest of the child to leave it in the car seat and run into a convience store for as few minutes. Exposing an infint to sub zero conditions can hurt the child.

This judjment should be left up to the parent.

My parents had 8 kids. To be sure they didn't bring all 8 kids into the store when they bought milk.

We let kids play in the back yard unattended, we let them cross the street (of course not an infant) but you get my point. We let babies sleep in a room by themself. What is this was a moterhome... and the baby was in it's crib? would that be different.

The point I'm trying to make is that we need to trust the care of the child to the parent, and only under the most "neglagant" conditions, interfere.

[goody2shooz]

Negligent? She left a baby alone in a vehicle on a sub-freezing night and parked illegally in a fire lane!

I would say she was d***ed negligent.

[Bonaparte]

Do you think it was warmer in the car than inside the store?

From the moment she left the kid alone till the moment the car was towed away, how much time do you think elapsed? How long was she really in that store? How long did it take before her car got ticketed, for the truck to then arrive, and for the operator to hook up? A few minutes total? I sincerely doubt it.

[Bonaparte]

No doubt about it. The mom is a ditz.

[babygene]

It’s the sudden change in temperature that’s dangerous for infants. A baby can withstand the cold better probably than you or I. Rapid changes in temperature can cause fluid buildup in the lungs. It’s probably safer to leave the kid in the car for a short period, assuming the car is locked and out of traffic.

At any rate, the responsibility is the parents’, and their judgment will almost always be better than yours. (not you personally) Parents do not always have good judgment (we dont't require IQ test to be parents), but overwhelmingly they do, and the kids make it somehow. Funny thing about that, even dog and cat moms do a good job… Mother's have an instict to go on. Doesn't have to make sense to you.

For you to second guess this mother is absurd. You were not there and you can’t possibly access the risks, one way or the other.

[Bonaparte]

You make some interesting points, bg. And I won't say they have no validity, although you might be truly astounded at how many mothers know next to nothing about infants and toddlers and how to manage them. And I agree with you that animal instinct is an amazing thing -- have you ever seen a mother rat eat her young? I have.

All that said, a mother who leaves her child alone in a car parked out in the street for long enough to be ticketed and towed has also left her child alone in a car long enough for that child to be abducted. That much is abundantly clear from the basic facts in the article.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

You racist S.O.B.

What the hell kind of a thing was THAT to say, and furthermore, WHO THE HELL ASKED YOU?
If you are indeed a CA Guy, what the hell do you care?

It doesn't matter what the nationality of the mother was, leaving your baby in a car, illegally parked, is stupid no matter what race you belong to. I wouldn't leave my car illegally parked ANYWHERE, period. Much less with my baby inside..

I wish the Somalians good luck on being accepted in Maine, my Franco ancestors haven't been in almost 150 years..and you have proven that fact well..Congratulations, and a Merry Christmas to you

Ms.B

[goody2shooz]

As the guardian of a child I do make judgements every day. Never, ever have I left him alone in a vehicle. But frankly I find the fact she parked illegally in a fire lane to be the most reprehensible aspect of the whole article.

Fire lanes are important. Parking in a fire lane could have delayed a firetruck in the event of a fire and cost a life.

If it was someone you loved who died because the fire and rescue teams were delayed, would you feel she was justified in scoffing at a no parking sign? And all for a magazine!

[petuniasevan]

WHOA Nelly! He was just funnin' with screen name Bonaparte.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much...