Tinley Park mom leaves child in car — endangerment?

Naw, just a better nut case.

Treffly-
I am so sorry that this has happened to your family.
I had a run in with the law regarding leaving my kids unattended several years ago.
At that time I was a young mother of 2 little kids and didn’t even know that it was an actual law that you couldn’t leave your kids in the car, no matter the circumstances.
I did leave mine in a locked, vented, shaded and not running car on a fall day (which was not hot or cold). I was gone 12min in a building where i had to quickly drop some important mortgage papers off.
I was surprised when I came out and a police officer was at my car and told me what I did was against the law. A lady going to lunch saw my kids and had called the police. I was given a citation with a court appearance. I got to go up and have everyone else listen to the judge as I was asked if I plead guilty to leaving my kids unattended.
I do believe I plead guilty or no contest, because yes I had left them (even though I felt my situation had been a safe environment). I know that if I had tried to dispute the circumstances, I would have been arrested and jailed or fined heavily. I was ordered to take a parenting class of my choosing (I took Love and Logic- which had nothing to do with leaving my kids in the car). I then had to go back and see the judge after I finished my class. I guess to see if a class had reformed me? Well, it had… I was saw that I could have my kids removed for any little thing… which would put them in my spouse’s care? Not sure what would have happened. So from then on I have been paranoid about what other “do gooders” are out there that are waiting for me to make a mistake and call it breaking the law.
I guess if you are a busy mom that left her kids in a safe car for a few minutes, you immediately need classes for everything you do as a mom. Well, I know I am a good mom that takes care of all my kids and makes sure they learn about strangers and all the dangers out there. I don’t make them afraid to step out of there door. The government is not in charge of raising my children… I am. I hope that our system of law enforcers can use there common sense and maybe some empathy when interpreting the laws they are trying to enforce.
I have a friend that was also ticketed for having her kids in the car of a friend’s driveway, while she was just inside the door of the friend’s house- taking her some cookies.
I guess that the police are more concerned about over worked soccer moms (not the ones that go killing their kids) then about real criminals. Not enough crime in the suburbs? Not so!
Good luck and God bless on you and your family, Treffly. I would say not to worry, but our society seems to be going down hill in the “trust its citizens with their own families” department. Just remember this when voting for the next president, who will decide what government and law enforcers are aloud to do in your family.

Good luck in court tomorrow, I agree with others that say that no judge in their right mind would convict you of any crime!

From reading the above comments, the majority of the parents that have posted need to go turn themselves into local authorities for doing what you did, myself included…

Just the other day, I left my 6 year old son in my truck as I opened my door next to my wife’s van to swap the car seat out of her van into my truck so our 2 year old could ride home with me while my wife attended a shool function with our 10 year old daughter.

I read stories everyday, as I’m sure most of us do, about “parents” that abuse, neglect, or even throw their kids off of bridges that will probably plead insanity and be out walking amongst us again in a few years…and the police had the audacity to actually cuff Mrs. Coyne in front of her children, and worse yet, take her 2 year old child into “protective custody”…how ridiculous is that?!?

The Coyne’s are obviously great parents and very intellignet people judging by Mr. Coyne’s advice to his wife not to speak to authorities until he arrived, not to mention Mrs. Coyne teaching their children to give generously to those in need.

This is a gross waste of tax payer’s time, and money and is an insult to loving parents everywhere that are doing best by their chidlren.

What a joke this all is. Does anyone know whether there is a way to donate to the Coynes? Legal fees are never cheap. It burns me up to watch a good parent have to deal with this cr*p. My siblings and I think of our mom as the best mother a person could have, and I know she’s done similar things with us. I guess from now on, when a mother fills up her tank at a gas station, she should pull up to the pump, wake her sleeping toddler, and hold the toddler while she fills up her gas tank. Also, it’s my understanding (I might be wrong) that the cops just left the other kids at the store after they arrested Ms. Coyne?! If that is true, that seems a lot closer to child endangerment than what Ms. Coyne is accused of.

P.S. Samara, you forgot to take you meds. DON’T FORGET TO TAKE THEM EVER AGAIN! YOU GIVE THE IMPRESSION THAT YOU’RE A LUNATIC WHEN YOU’RE NOT ON THEM!!!!!

Sam,

Not all parents can afford a sitter or a nanny. I have 2 year-old twins and I’m lucky enough that I have never needed to go anywhere without either our nanny or my husband. But there are several other moms in my parents of multiple club are not so lucky. They had to go everywhere –do everything with their kids.

By the way, how old are you? not in school today?

All of you are a joke, I’ve been cordial and on the level…and I am sure its a safe bet that my educational background trumps yours, but that’s not why I am here.

I have a 3yr old son and working on kid number 2…I do not have a ton of cash, nor do we have a nanny…and yes I can say I have never, not once….locked my kid in the car unattended….if he’s sleeping and I need gas and have to go in a pay…I gently unbuckle him, go in and pay, and bring him back….hopefully still asleep. I live in the DFW area and can safely say the car is the last place you want your child left unattended. Between the crime and the temps around it, it is not a safe thing to do.

The temp in a car, vented or not, can approach dangerous levels in less than 20min. Every year I hear about a handful of kids who were either abducted or died in the car due to being left unattended…heck half the time the parents were right inside the C-store watching from the window…Most parents are not aware of how fast things can go wrong. I for one, no matter how cold, how much of a hurry, how quick,etc, etc, would ever leave my kid in the car…period.

Heck our daycare at the church will call the cops if a parent leaves the older kid in the car while they bring in the little one.

It is just not a gamble I am willing to take with most precious thing in my life…sorry…I will inconvenience myself before I leave little Sam in the car alone.

Most of what I am talking about here are younger kids who are strapped in a carseat. Not the 7-10 year old that can act on commands or get themselves out of the car on their own in case of danger… It is the child that can not do on his own who is most at risk…like the 2yr old in this case.

Sam,

If you can post even one story in which an abduction or dangerous temperature change occurred in a situation with facts that are otherwise identical to the story here, I would be astounded. If a parent pays with a credit card at the pump, should he or she wake the child up and hold the child while pumping gas? What Ms. Coyne did was the smart, normal thing to do. What if she had done what Samara suggested, and dropped her kid on the pavement by accident? That’s more likely than the doomsday scenarios of a kid freezing to death in 5 minutes or being abducted while the doors are locked and the alarm is on. Most parents care a lot more about their kids than the government or some Wal-Mart meter maid does. Let them take care of their kids.

She needs to teach her kids that many police use their uniform as a club to lord over the citizenry. Legal over-compensation. “Yes, ma’am; sorry ma’am, you’re right, ma’am, I’ll never do it again, ma’am.” Good thing she didn’t get her head clubbed. Notice one of the charges is “obstruction of justice.” NEVER ARGUE WITH A COP - ESPECIALLY A LADY COP!

If you pay at the pump, roll the back window down and talk to you kids while you pump…thats not leaving them in a locked car.

Tom, I stand corrected…you are right, just because a situation with these exact circumstances has never happened before with a bad outcome, means it will never happen…my bad…I should have known better. And I would rather risk me dropping my child, then leaving them in the car.

Damon says: I have to wonder how is this going to effect her children’s view of police now?

Wow no wonder she’s not on the police force anymore(thank god), she is what i assume was the type of officer that our young mother came into contact with. Folks, as asked earlier how many parents have pumped gas in their car and paid for it with their kids still in the car,I Assume again every parent in the once free United States has done it. The two older children where found by there father sitting inside the Walmart alone? Why was the commanding officer on the scene not arrested for child neglect also, that is the worst nightmare neglect case ive heard, cops caught up in creating drama, arresting a mother then letting two kids wonder by themselves into a huge store with at least three other exits to be takin, the officers where just wanting to ruin a perfect law abiding family and throw them in the same class as the criminals they have locked up in their State Prison. These officers where wrong and our government along with them have taken all rights away from law abiding citizens and some how allowed to label good people bad because there are crooks rapist child preds out there. A Box is what our government seems to be pushing us to live in(THE NEW China), do and act the only way they say or you and your family will be raked over the media and the courts until youve paid the lawyers and state and have been tramatized and broken$ hearted. I do not remember ever going to vote allowing this police officer the right to tell us she or he knows better than We The People, if anyone watches the news lately then you will see most of the headlines are Corrupt Government officials and wife killing cops,not mothers gone wild(all politicians and ranking official should be kicked out and we should start over). Beatles where right, we need a Revolution and take back our country, and heres a good question didnt this happen in Barrack Obamas state? Dang what else can we look forward to if he’s running the what used to Be a free world. May god help us all and i had better start seeing kids standing next to their parents at the Gas pump.Thats probably where this cop will get her next victim at the Walmart gas pumps. WHATS THE DIFFERENCE? And yes there are some dumb parents out there, we all with Brains know this. But this isnt one of them, and who knows for those of you who hang way out there on the WING maybe your loyal government will make a new law that will only allow certain folks to have kids like for instance the NY governor Spitzer im sure he’s been a great father and never broke any of the law’s he put so many away for as A DA.Funny isnt it how some folks never get it and power goes straight to the head when given. Bring Back the Free World, a voting booth in every town for every law might get us there, because our politicians sure aint(TN slang).God Bless and may the normal folks survive and build a better country…