Articles labeled: crestwood

Treffly Coyne, a mom from Tinley Park, Illinois who was accused by Crestwood police of child endangerment after leaving her child in a car — the charges were later dropped — has filed a lawsuit against the village. Coyne is claiming false arrest and malicious prosecution. Hmmm, while we’re on the side of Coyne in that we think the initial charge was bogus, she might lose some of the goodwill she gained with people that are rather tired of this lawsuit happy society.

Flanked by her husband and three daughters, Ellen “Treffly” Coyne said officers acted brashly and failed to use common sense when they arrested her in December.

“This moment of giving turned into aggressive boom, boom, boom, accusations in a minute,” Coyne said at a news conference in her lawyer’s Loop office.

Coyne’s husband, Tim Janecyk, said the family had hoped to move on with their lives after the charges were dropped last week but decided to file the lawsuit after Crestwood Police Chief Timothy Sulikowski told the media he was disappointed prosecutors did not pursue the case.

The couple said the suit, which seeks unspecified damages, is not about money but is about closure and holding officials responsible.

In case you’re not up to speed, Treffly Coyne is a woman from Tinley Park, Illinois who was arrested for briefly leaving her young child in her car alone in a Wal-Mart parking lot. The case caused quite a stir on message boards, with some claiming what Coyne did was reckless and she deserved to be punished, while most seemed to think it was an outrage and an overreaction by police. Well, the majority seems to have been vindicated, as prosecutors are indicating that they are going to submit a motion to drop all charges:

Treffly Coyne, 36, was set to go on trial Thursday on misdemeanor charges of child endangerment and obstructing a peace officer. But the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office found the evidence did not support the charges, sources said.

Prosecutors will drop the case at a Thursday court appearance in Bridgeview, sources said.

It was Dec. 8 when Coyne drove to Wal-Mart in suburban Crestwood so that her children could donate $8.29 in coins to the Salvation Army.

When she arrived, she parked in a loading zone. Her two-year-old daughter Phoebe was asleep. Coyne locked the car and activated the alarm, then took her two other daughters and another child to the Salvation Army donation kettle no more than ten yards away.

A community service officer intercepted Coyne on her way back to the car. Crestwood police then arrested her.

Treffly Coyne, a mother in Tinley Park, Illinois, is facing a count of child endangerment after leaving her 2-year-old briefly locked inside her car as she and three other children ran up to the front of a Crestwood Wal-Mart to put money in a Salvation Army collection bucket. The case raises an interesting point — what is the threshold for the amount of time you can leave your child “alone” (the car was always in Coyne’s plain sight) until it becomes endangerment?

Coyne took her three daughters and a neighbor’s child to Wal-Mart on an icy night so her kids could donate money they collected to the Salvation Army.

When she drove up to the Wal-Mart entrance, her 2-year-old daughter was asleep. Rather than wake her up and risk falling on the icy pavement with the child in her arms, Coyne left her in her car seat, locked the car and walked about 30 feet away to a Salvation Army bell ringer’s bucket with the other three kids, the defense said.

A minute or two later as she and the kids walked back to the car, a community service officer from Crestwood was standing there and told her she was under arrest for child endangerment.

Coyne said she couldn’t believe what was happening because she was always within sight of her car, her husband said.