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Children Taken into Child Protective Custody After an Evening Drive with Mother of Some of Them

By Janet Langjahr

Adults and children attend party in a park.

Adults drink alcoholic beverages.

One mother (Driver) reportedly admits to having three or four beers.

Driver, with her four children, decides to take an evening drive, presumably home.

Driver, it later turns out, has a suspended driver’s license.

Driver agrees to take three other children, one year old twins and a two year old, home for another young mother at the party. The younger mother reportedly admits to knowing that Driver is impaired.

Driver also takes a grandfather to some of the children along on the drive and … a friend.

Bringing the head count in the Chrysler PT Cruiser to a grand total of ten people, three adults and seven children.

No child car seats are in use.

While the car is moving, one of the back seat doors allegedly pops open – and two children fall out and roll in the intersection.

As police pursue the car, a third child falls out of the car and rolls on the street.

Driver is charged with DUI, driving with a suspended license, driving at night without headlights on, having seven unrestrained children in a car, endangerment of seven children, and having an open container of an alcoholic beverage in the car.

The absent mother who asked Driver to drive her three children home is charged with child endangerment as well.

The adult friend, who is taken into custody with an open beer in his possession, is also charged with child endangerment.

Two of the injured children, the baby twins, are initially in critical condition, but later improve.

All seven children have been placed into child protective custody.

Read more in this Las Vegas Review Journal article: MOTHERS CHARGED: Man saw kids, alerted police – Three children fell from car and this Las Vegas Fox 5 TV News article: Police: Mother Left Kids With Drunk Driver – Officer Saw Child Fall From Car.

Full post as published by Florida Divorce - Child Custody - Domestic Abuse Law on November 10, 2009 (boomark / email).