Woman Arrested For Leaving Toddler In Hot Car Sues City

[The Straight Story]

Woman Arrested For Leaving Toddler In Hot Car Sues City

POSTED: 1:39 pm EST January 24, 2006

STAMFORD, Conn. -- A Connecticut woman who was arrested after her son was accidentally locked in her car on a hot day is suing city officials for defamation.

The woman (Guita Sazan Silverstein) was arrested in July after she allegedly told rescuers not to break the window on her Audi to free her child.

Her attorney said she shouldn't have been arrested. Matthew Maddox says someone decided early-on that this would be "a classist story" about someone worried about her expensive car.

He instead says police and fire officials in Stamford should be blamed for any problems and delays in getting the toddler out of the car.

http://www.local6.com/news/6402920/detail.html

[Peanutcat]

1. Why was she arrested again?

I'm not getting it.

[AZBlue]

4. Probably child endangerment.

Cars heat up quickly and can get very hot (between 100 and 200 degrees, depending on the weather and length of time in car) and children can die from heat exposure.

[49jim]

2. She should have OnStar to unlock

doors w/o breaking windows.

[seabeyond]

3. i remember this. adn as stupid as the woman was

those rescuers actually listened to her. all they had to do was say no way maam. and break the window. but instead they didnt respond and allowed her to go for the keys. then they decide they DO need to get to the child and break the window. the stupid, in my opinion was they then arrested the woman

now..... i didnt agree with the arrest. i thought it was absurd and no law was broken. silliness. and a bunch of adults not thinking, or acting mature

equally i think it is stupid this woman is suing

[LittleClarkie]

7. No laws were broken?

How about not leaving the child in a hot car by itself in the first place.

Wasn't that child endangerment?

Or is it that she locked the child in, called the cops, and when they got there, she didn't want the window broken in? And then she left to get the keys, because she hadn't wanted to leave the child alone while she went to get them in the first place?

Or did she indeed go somewhere with the child in the hot car? Who called the cops? I guess I'm not quite getting it either.

[seabeyond]

11. my brother locked son in car. no, i dont think it is a law broken

i have never done it, but for the grace of god, there go i..... so no i wouldnt want that to be a law. my brother has not been the only one to have htis happen to him, nor this woman. he got help immediately and got son out, and cops gave son a stuff animal.... all was ok

this woman did a stupid thing, THAT is not against the law. but law enforcers who are more aware to damage to little ones in car knew better, and they didnt speak up. that is their error, and i dont think they should be prosecuted either for being stupid.

the story is she locked kid in car, accident. called rescue. they wanted to break window. she said i have a friend that will drive me home, 5 minutes away, let me get the keys to unlock. they said ok. she left. they decided they couldnt wait and busted window. when she got back with spares they arrested her.

[SmokingJacket]

5. Well, if she wanted the window broken, she could have done it

herself and not called the rescuers! She was probably peeved that she went through all that trouble and all they were going to do was break the window.

If it was my kid I would have grabbed a rock and broken the window myself.

[AZBlue]

6. I think not only should the judge turn her down but make her pay for

the related court costs as well as the cost of rescuing her child.

[CoffeeCat]

8. All I can say is...

...that if this woman refused to allow her windows broken--then she should have been arrested for child neglect.

The article says that she wanted to drive home, get a key and drive back to her toddler in the car. It takes less than 7 minutes--on a hot day--for temperatures inside a car to reach 100 degrees.

Obviously, this woman is a shrill witch. I guess we shouldn't be so surprised that a woman who values her Audi windows, more than her child---is also filing a ridiculous lawsuit. Yep. That's right. She's the victim, folks.

Last summer, I accidentally locked my toddler in the car with the keys inside. I was completely out of my head. It was 95 degrees out. I tried to break one of the windows myself. I couldn't. I tore into the nearest building and was screaming for help. Three people came out to help. One worked in security and was able to open the door. I drive a Range Rover, and the last thing I was worried about---was my frickin car windows. I wouldn't have cared if they had to destroy the entire car to get my child out.

This self-centered "mother" wanted to drive home, get a key and return---while leaving her child alone and confused in a hot car? Sick.

I hope they counter sue her for a frivolous/malicious lawsuit.

[indie_voter]

9. The thought terrifies me

My kids are a little older and can unlock the door but still...

What if they were sleeping?

According to the news story, the firefighters did the right thing and broke the window.

I am so glad your story had a happy ending!!

:hug:

[smirkymonkey]

10. Hear, hear!

Best post on this subject yet.

This woman is disgusting - I hope the kid grows up and writes a book about her a la Mommie Dearest.

[seabeyond]

13. right because you know she must not care about her baby

this is the same position some took when this originally came out and i am as bothered by these assumptions now as i was then. i know i dont know what was in this womans mind. i imagine that she had a lot of wires crossing, fears and concerns and probably wasnt thinking very straight. something that happens to many when they are in the line of danger, fear, whatever. and she may have said a stupid thing. like how about if i get my keys. the rescuers who were more calm i am sure, and experienced in emergency and understanding the peril the child was in had a wonderful opportunity to say, no way maam, you child could be dead by then. and maybe that may have made her stop to see the silliness of her need to not break a window. but they didnt. and let her go off, thinking it was an ok thing to do

there was a lot of silliness with a lot of people in this situation. shit happens. thankfully all turned out all right. but the willingness and eagerness of some to say, she didnt care about child and only car and shoudl be arrested, and as some have stated child should be taken away, is absurd

[FreedomAngel82]

12. Oh yes

Let's blame the people who wanted to quickly get him out by breaking a window. She could've had the window repaired. And why in the world did she leave a child in the car by themselves or at all?

[seabeyond]

14. why???? well, what if the baby was in safer back seat.

she got out of car front seat, shut door and ooopps accidently locked it. but then you know, i have stopped at local convenience store to run in 1, 2 minutes, cold rainy outside, leave kids in car, lock door and i have the key. my eyes on them all the time.

gets slippery judging people sooo. easy before having kids. not so easy for me to do now. i see the things people have said to me,.... things i do with my children that others dont do, where i could judge. find a fine balance on that one as a parent.

[XOKCowboy]

15. OK we agree the woman is a terrible mother...

not for leaving the child in the car (we all make innocent mistakes) but for being more worried about her car windows than her child's wellbeing. I'd knock my car windows out for a dog on a hot day, much less my child, and not give it a second thought. The rest of the story is more than a little confusing.

I'm wondering. How hot was it that day????

[seabeyond]

18. i am remembering it was morning, about 85 degree.

jsut from memory of story months ago

[Der Blaue Engel]

16. I locked my son in my pickup when he was 6 months old

Scared me to death. The truck was in a stuffy garage and I locked my keys inside as I was getting out. Who hasn't locked their keys in their car at least once in their lives?

I ran down the street to get a locksmith while my roommates watched the baby. The locksmith had a really hard time getting the lock to pop up with the slim jim, so it took about 20 minutes, while my son began to cry at the sight of me panicking.

Not once did anyone think of breaking the window. (Of course, this was a truck, so breaking the window probably would have showered glass over my baby.) But as stuffy as it was in the garage, my son was perfectly fine, other than the panic.

Oh, I dropped him head over heels down a set of stairs once, too, because I stupidly pushed the stroller forward instead of dragging it down backward, and the strap broke.

Parents make dumb mistakes and don't always think straight. Fact of life. Children manage to survive us.

[seabeyond]

17. aaah thanks for your honesty. i bet your son got that from you too

along with that bump on the head. on the other hand, i was way over protective and nothing has happened to my kids, and you dont think that hasnt caused issues too. no perfection. aint gonna happen. surely we must be a little patient with our humanness

btw, i agree with you post if you didnt notice.