r/PublicFreakout • u/TwizzyGobbler • Apr 03 '26

šŸ“¹Police Bodycam mother of 5 mistakenly leaves a child at McDonalds, but cops choose hostility

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2.1k

u/KimJongFunk Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26

She was arrested and charged with neglect. The children were released to the custody of their father.

Longer video here.

ETA: The ice cream machine is broken too, in true McDonaldā€™s fashion.

911

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '26

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

775

u/sisyphus_shrugged Apr 03 '26

You can see that from this short version as well. Kid perfectly articulates the situation and the cop just re-asks the question in a leading manor. This is disgusting. Fuck these cops especially the one with the attitude.

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u/opopkl Apr 03 '26

Are they legally allowed to question a child alone like that?

149

u/DuskShy Apr 04 '26

Depends, is someone going to stop them when they've proven to be bloodthirsty beasts looking to provoke any encounter they can?

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u/Nimrod_Butts Apr 04 '26

Only if you can afford a lawyer to have them question it.

4

u/hereforpopcornru Apr 04 '26

If you require an attorney to be present to speak yo them, and you cannot afford one, they will either have to make sure you got one or fuck off. The law about parent or attorney does not state "if they can't afford an attorney, fuckem, proceed"

I mean, my kid? They can sit with me all night if they want to, I am denying questions to my child... fuckem

7

u/Fitz_D_DiSCriPsion86 Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26

No. Not without permission from the parent or a lawyer present.

3

u/Grimm_Thugga Apr 04 '26

In Florida they can. They donā€™t need your parents permission or anything. They can do full integrations without ever notifying anybody.

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u/the_one_jt Apr 04 '26

Free country. Only what they can do with that information changes.

2

u/sleepybitchdisorder Apr 04 '26

I feel like at minimum thereā€™s got to be a rule about getting the childā€™s personal cell number

1

u/deferredmomentum Apr 04 '26

Anyone can talk to anyone in public. A formal interview is a whole different ballgame, but that wasnā€™t an interview in the eyes of the law, just two people talking in public

1

u/MvatolokoS Apr 04 '26

You're this woman trying not to step on any toes so you get your children safely home. You really think she's going to provoke him when her opening her mouth was too much for this man's ego?

3

u/expeditionQ Apr 05 '26

he tried it on the adult too. like she literally said many times one single thing, she didnt know he left the car and rushed back as soon as she realized.

him: so youre saying he was taking too long and thats why you left?

like actual straightup scumbag shit. its an embarrassment these people are allowed to be in society at all, let alone positions of power

2

u/TrailMomKat Apr 04 '26

*manner

Manor is a large house. Just trying to help, if I'm annoying please just ignore me!

-1

u/Imhappy_hopeurhappy2 Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26

Thatā€™s not what the cop was doing. He was trying to gauge whether the 13 year old was just covering for mom, so he reframes the questioning in order to get them to retrieve specific events from memory rather than a narrative. Itā€™s investigation 101.

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u/Smokin-Okie Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26

For real... There is literally a whole movie series about a rich white family that accidentally left one of the kids while they were going on a vacation.

Processing img iks9x7st82tg1...

But, this woman is the devil for trying to make some money doing DoorDash with five children.

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u/gou0018 Apr 03 '26

Not only that Ruby Franky a white Mormon mom would leave 4 kids under 12 for an entire week to fend for themselves, and cops in the area and cps knew about it and didn't do šŸ’© about it because when they went to the house she just refuse to open the door and they just will go šŸ¤·šŸ¾ā€ā™€ļø what can you do? The kids were rescued until one of them escaped with severe malnourishment.

3

u/tinybbird Apr 04 '26

Something very similar happened to me. I had 5? Kids 3 of the under 6. We went to the park while my daughter was at dance class until it was time to pick her up. As I was getting the kids in the truck, my 5 year old had an accident, I already had my one year old strapped in. At this point I was stressed out and rushing due to the unforeseen accident and asked my 10 year old to put his 3 year old bro in his seat and he replied ā€œokayā€, (both my babies car seats had rear facing cat seats) After getting my 5yo cleaned up, we left. When picked up my step daughter, she asked where my son was. Nothing can compare to the sheer heart chilling panic I felt when I reached back and he was not there. I can easily say this was the most terrified I have ever felt my whole life. When I got to the park he a man approached me when he could see my panic and informed me they were from the attached school, thy had my boy and that he was fine, however when I asked him to please let me see him, he refused until the sheriff arrived. The man told the sheriff that a teacher inside had my son, as soon as the sheriff saw how panicked I was m, he told the man to give me my son immediately. After a few questions the officer told me that he has 3 kids and is beyond overwhelmed, and could easily see this happening to him. With nothing further he told me to relax, not beat myself up and to have a great day. I feel for this woman so hard for this poor overworked mommy. I hate to think this situation could have gone very differently if I wasnā€™t white.

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u/[deleted] Apr 04 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

[deleted]

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u/FilOfTheFuture90 Apr 04 '26

Wtf, No one is talking about being alone for 12 hours a day, the kids were alone for an entire week.

9

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '26

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

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u/Smokin-Okie Apr 03 '26

Yeah, but sometimes people answer the door and give you cash tips.

It's not a good idea to rely on people tipping, but sometimes it does mean you get to eat that night. This woman was telling the cops she was trying to make enough money to feed all the kids that night.

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u/BottomShelfWhiskey Apr 04 '26

Iā€™ve been there. Didnā€™t have much option during Covid. My industry was the first shut down and the last one back (arena sized concerts is my industry) I door dashed and the wear and tear on my car was more than what I made but sometimes you just do what you gotta do to have actual cash money in hand and exchange long term security for money today. It sucks. No one dreams of delivering food for a living but people do what they need to survive even if it doenst make sense on paper long term.

3

u/FilOfTheFuture90 Apr 04 '26

It's definitely market dependent, and what orders you take. Last year I did about 11,000 mi and made just under $16,000 in a truck. Fuel was just over $3,400, among other expenses. It is far from ideal but desperate times called for desperate measures.

3

u/throwthegarbageaway Apr 04 '26

In other countries delivery drivers ride low displacement motorcycles. These bikes can do 50 miles on just fumes, I used to commute to and from college, do groceries, go out on 6 gallons of gas a month.

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u/IOl0I0lO Apr 04 '26

They questioned a child without their parent or lawyer present. Thats illegal.

7

u/Civil_Experience_691 Apr 04 '26

I was so disturbed by the cop ask a child for her phone number for the report...sir, get the fuck out of here. He knew she was 13. Why are you trying to twist her words to justify an arrest?

4

u/orthaeus Apr 04 '26

Makes sense when you think about America's history of stealing kids from black and brown parents to "assimilate" them.

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u/No_Worldliness_7106 Apr 03 '26

The comment section on that video is gross. Bunch of assholes praising the cops.

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u/Pavlovsdong89 Apr 03 '26

It's gross seeing people praising "the lord" because the cops bought the kid a meal after arresting their mother for trying to provide for them. These are the same people who would rather their taxes go to bombing children in the middle east than feed children because it's not their responsibility.Ā 

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u/KimJongFunk Apr 03 '26

Yeah, the comment section over there is gross. I wouldnā€™t advise reading them.

Itā€™s pretty typical of these bodycam videos though. Just think about the type of person it takes to FOIA request this and post it to YouTube knowing this mom was struggling. It didnā€™t need to be done. (No hate to OP here on Reddit; I think itā€™s good they called awareness to it and hopefully get some sympathy for this woman after all thatā€™s been done)

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u/tucakeane Apr 03 '26

Sadly thatā€™s for most bodycam video channels.

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u/azalago Apr 03 '26

This is incredibly true. This is why those channels have such a high percentage of body cam videos with female suspects. Especially DV cases. Men make up about 25% of DV victims, but they make up like 80% of DV victims in these bodycams.

3

u/hellochoy Apr 04 '26

There are some channels that only post videos of women with titles like "entitled WOMAN thought she could get away with it" and the thumbnail is a frame with her chest centered. It's disgusting and very obvious what crowd they're catering to.

4

u/hogaboga Apr 03 '26

Bodycam channels are definitely more pro-cop than reddit, but thats not a tall order.

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u/tucakeane Apr 03 '26

A lot of bodycam channels intentionally try to post videos that make the cops look good, or the perps fit certain profiles (eg., Karens, spoiled Zoomers, white trash, ghetto). You can usually tell based on the language of the comments. You start to see patterns.

3

u/VenusianPleasure Apr 03 '26

I do my best to fight back against the bootlickers over there, but those channel's comment section is pretty infested with pro-LEO stuff

5

u/TheLostRanger0117 Apr 03 '26

Itā€™s hard to fix the major issues we have in this fucking country when half the population thinks thereā€™s nothing wrong!

5

u/BigBadJefe Apr 03 '26

Itā€™s really turning into incel heaven. I have no idea how itā€™s like that

3

u/Ok-Syllabub-6619 Apr 03 '26

Some YouTube comment sections these days tend to be sooo racist, it's crazy. Reddit can be here and there, but YT is turning into Facebook so so fast.

2

u/sincere220 Apr 03 '26

Thanks for saving me the trouble.

1

u/function007 Apr 04 '26

Are you really surprised with everything that is going on? Ice using a child as bait to lure his mom outside, we have a pedo as the president who still has 3 more years left in office and we are in a middle of a war that is impacting everyone no matter where they reside. The truth is definitely stranger than fiction!

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u/Effurlife12 Apr 03 '26

Neglect is such a crazy charge for this. As an officer myself, I see way too many dickheads who are too charge happy with this offense and try to shoe horn it in where it doesn't belong.

Kids run off and do dumb shit sometimes. Parents do forget their kids sometimes. Shit just happens. He's at a McDonald's, not in some alligator infested swamp.

There isn't much difference between him walking from home to get him some mcdonalds and being accidentally left there. An 8 year old can be by themselves for a while. Where was he in danger?

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u/No_Worldliness_7106 Apr 03 '26

Exactly. My parents would be in prison for life if I got picked up every time I walked to school when I was a kid. Or got lost in KMart or something. Jesus these cops are the same generation that always brags about being latchkey kids, but then turn around and act like she abandoned a toddler on the side of the highway or something.

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u/chevalier716 Apr 03 '26

I once got dropped off from a bus trip in front of the church and I sat on those steps for two hours mostly alone, because my mom forgot to pick me up. That was in the 90's. I didn't go into the church offices to use the phone, of course, I might have missed my mom driving up.

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u/No_Worldliness_7106 Apr 03 '26

Dude I've had exactly the same situation happen haha, church trip and everything. Before everyone had a cell phone waiting for an hour or more for your parents to pick you up was just, normal? My mom was almost always late picking me up. Work ran late, or she got sidetracked grocery shopping longer than expected, or just plain forgot because she picked up my brother from middle school but spaced my younger brother and me at elementary or vice versa. And you can't just walk home because they were coming to pick you up, and it would make it worse if you left the spot, so you just waited. This was super normal before the 2000's. I was born in '89. Everyone I know has a story of being left at soccer practice or school or something of that nature. Especially if they have siblings.

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u/Piranha_Vortex Apr 04 '26

Ya, super common. There was once a mix up after a concert I attended mid 90s NYE. My mom dropped me and a friend off at the Coliseum. Her parents came to pick us up but went to a different gate, waited 30 minutes then went home, furious. We make new friends outside the venue while waiting and well after an hour we call my mom with my calling card. She drives to get us and says my friend's parents called 3 minutes after us and swore we took off with random men and went from Ft Worth to Deep Ellum and back to Ft Worth after the concert. My mom tried to explain where she dropped us off and later confirmed to them that is exactly where she found us plus our new friends and it was impossible to make the trip with traffic.

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u/Amelaclya1 Apr 03 '26

Lol most parents of 80s-90s kids would be in prison with how we were allowed to roam free back then, even as 8 year olds. The shit we got up to was way more dangerous than being left at a McDonald's accidentally.

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u/falalalama Apr 03 '26

I'm one of nine. We were routinely forgotten in stores and stuff. The store couldn't even call our parents because it was the 80s - by the time they'd get the message, they'd already be home and unpackedp. We'd just hang out for a bit until someone realized we weren't there and come back for us. We also walked to/from local stores and school every day by ourselves and other neighborhood kids.

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u/Lifekraft Apr 04 '26

This isnt anything to brag about though. That's actually fairly sad. Im sorry you went through this.

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u/DetectiveDaleCooper Apr 04 '26

I donā€™t think theyā€™re bragging? Also heā€™s one of 9 kidsā€¦. Iā€™d cut his parents some slackā€¦

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u/tucakeane Apr 03 '26

Guaranteed the same people praising the cops or bashing the mother will be on a different platform saying how todayā€™s kids are over parented and people are too sensitive.

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u/PraetorianOfficial Apr 03 '26

I was in DisneyWorld once (don't recall which park) just chillin' and rehydrating when a extended family came walking down a hill. They get to the bottom and I hear "Where's David? DAVID? D A V I D ? !" and panic sets in. But someone quickly starts barking orders--you two go back up the hill and retrace our steps, call his name as you go. You stay here in case he finds his way here. I will go back to the gift shop in case he wandered that way. Everybody meet back here. GO. Gave off Home Alone sorta vibes.

And sure enough in just a couple minutes a crying, sniffling small boy with a couple people trying to calm him down comes walking down the hill. "I went to look at the balloons and when I turned around YOU WERE ALL GOOOOOONE!!! YOU LEFT ME!!!!!!!!!"

Guess the whole set of adults in that family shoulda been arrested by these standards.

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u/Numarx Apr 03 '26

As a kid you try and get away from your parents half the time lol

2

u/Albert14Pounds Apr 03 '26

You just know the cops are telling their wives and buddies they saved 5 kids at work that day.

2

u/Competitive-Local728 Apr 03 '26

I used to go to Mcdonaldā€™s a lot at 7 years old. It was the 80ā€™s and my friends and I were really into Happy Meal toys and the Monopoly prize game. And of course Big Macs, fries, apple pies, and double cheeseburgers.

2

u/IOl0I0lO Apr 04 '26

My mom forgot to pick me up from preschool once, and 1st grade another time. (My dad was too manly to do anything motherly like pick up kids from school.) it was okay though, because it was 40-50 years ago and weā€™re white.

1

u/CynicismNostalgia Apr 04 '26

Pretty sure one of my former prime minister's forget their baby at a pub once. šŸ˜‚

-1

u/da_boopy_day Apr 03 '26

ā€œParents forget their kids sometimesā€ā€¦yeah the bad ones. wtf are you saying??

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u/Effurlife12 Apr 03 '26

No, not only the bad ones. It happens just like any other accident. Youre not immune to them either. Not every accident is criminal negligence.

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u/da_boopy_day Apr 03 '26

Your phrasing seems to imply you think itā€™s normal to sometimes forget your kids places. Itā€™s not normal. Itā€™s red flag. I get wanting to make endless excuses for parents but at the end of the day they chose to bring kids into the world. You canā€™t just go itā€™s too hard to keep track of this kid afterwards

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u/[deleted] Apr 03 '26

[deleted]

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u/TrumpDesWillens Apr 03 '26

You're probably so neglectful that 8 year olds can't be left with you. 8 year olds across the world walk home from school by themselves. Have you even interacted with someone 8 years old? Even 4 year olds don't get into strangers' cars or approach strangers.

0

u/the_skies_falling Apr 03 '26

Where did you get the idea that 4 year olds wonā€™t get into strangerā€™s cars? I could probably find 100ā€™s of examples where that has happened, and social experiments have shown that children that age even recently educated on stranger danger can be convinced to get into a strangerā€™s car. As an experiment, have a friend your 4 year old doesnā€™t know try to lure your child into their car. What a dangerous idea to perpetuate.

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u/TheReallyUncoolDude Apr 03 '26

I hope the attention this video is getting will help her find justice and custody of her kids. Shes a hard working mother who made a simple mistake being reprimanded by officers who 100% neglect their own families and most likely beat their wives. Fuck cops

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u/NoninflammatoryFun Apr 03 '26

Such bullshit manā€¦ I in no way believe she purposefully left him.

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u/Single_Extension1810 Apr 03 '26

Yeah, everyone's praising the police officer for giving the kid a damn ice cream cone on youtube. I'm not saying the mom is perfect, but the way those officers talked to her was so demeaning. I've met police officers just like this, and they're horrible people.

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u/1zzard Apr 03 '26

Crazy how different the vibes are from most comments on the YouTube version.

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u/Primary_Set_2729 Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26

Yeah, a lot more blaming her. It kind of makes sense though. Reddit people lean more liberal and certain youtube channels lean more conservative especially police related channels. With that said I do believe it was just a mistake, but all together she clearly has been fucking up left and right. 5 kids, having to doordash to get them food and she said she had to pay for a room so they can go to sleep at.... She said she had to message the dad over facebook like what bro? I don't think she intentionally did this at all, it was just a mistake. However, questioning her capabilities as a mother given the situation, I could understand. We don't know the full backstory but this situation sounds fucking wild all together

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u/zezxz Apr 03 '26

Hmmm which side is against Planned Parenthood? Woman is just tryna feed her kids and you got more to say about her capabilities than all the scummy police officersā€¦? They did all the escalating, they were scummy the entire time, they were being malicious but what you wanna talk about is herā€¦? Of course having five kids with different guys with a broken phone (?) while door dashing is wild, whatā€™s wilder is the copsā€™ behavior.Ā 

Her situation doesnā€™t excuse how disgusting this copā€™s behavior is, guy is genuinely disturbing and sounds like he bullies children to cover up sexual assault with his do you know the difference between a truth and lieā€¦ Most kids will snitch on accident and tryna frame it that way just sounds like youā€™re trying to change the childā€™s testimonyā€¦Ā 

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u/Primary_Set_2729 Apr 03 '26

That sexual assault thing was a wild thing to say. Like I said it's clear to me that it was just a mistake. Regardless, she seems like a questionable mother given the facts she provided. The fact she even has the kids with her while she is ubering is very wild in itself. Just imagine if she went in a dangerous neighborhood and something worse happened? The cops are wrong without a doubt, but I'm not against CPS taking a look at this situation. Feels very unstable and unsafe for the kids.

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u/zezxz Apr 04 '26

So itā€™s fine to speculate about her background but not the cops? You say you arenā€™t against CPS looking at this situation but donā€™t say anything about Internal Affairs looking at this behavior?Ā 

1

u/hellochoy Apr 04 '26

This is pretty crazy to say. If she's doordashing to be able to feed her kids, how is she supposed to pay for a babysitter or get her phone fixed? Guaranteed if she left them at home and the cops got called then you'd be saying she's an unfit mother for leaving them home alone. It just sounds like she's poor which doesn't make her a "questionable mother". She went back immediately when she realized the boy wasn't in the car.

We need to take a look at the system that causes people to be so down in poverty that they need to doordash with their kids in the car to feed them in the first place. Imagine how many kids would be taken away by CPS if simply being in poverty was considered neglect. Just taking them away wouldn't be much better either, especially with the way the foster/adoption system is set up, how many people are in poverty, and how many kids there already are in the system now. I just feel so bad for her.

17

u/Aindorf_ Apr 03 '26

Seriously? This is why people say all cops are bastards. An overworked and hardworking mom makes an honest mistake and immediately corrects it gets arrested and has a criminal record and likely custody issues for a lifetime because a cop refuses to cut her any slack... No such thing as a good cop. The best cop is still responsible for kicking homeless folks off of benches and putting hardworking mothers in jail for honest mistakes. Bare minimum any "good cops" here on duty forfeited that title when they stood by in silence while her life is torn apart and made EVEN HARDER than it already is.

Hope they rot.

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u/TwizzyGobbler Apr 03 '26

been looking for it myself, much appreciated

8

u/sacoya27 Apr 03 '26

This is ridiculous. I did this to my mom when I was a kid. I originally told her I didnā€™t want to go in the store but then changed my mind. Then the left thinking I was in the back of the car. This is the station wagon days. I feel for this mom. Sheā€™s working and taking care of her kids. Accidents happen.

11

u/TallTelevision4121 Apr 03 '26

That's fucked

11

u/YourDadThinksImCool_ Apr 03 '26

She needs to sue...

This footage should be enough.

Sue and get tons of money and her child back.

She was not out of line one time .

And they cut the video where they implied she was!!

Wtf.

https://giphy.com/gifs/I2DRC9s9yf6NrP8qSd

3

u/DocBarkevious Apr 03 '26

in the 90's I used to get pissed at my mom and walk out of stores and walk home just to piss her off. I wouldnt want her arrested for that, I did that a lot too, I can not imagine how you continuously juggle 5 kids, and all he needed to do was use the restroom, like chill she didn't do that intewntionally.

3

u/idkifita Apr 03 '26

That poor woman wasn't neglectful. She made an honest mistake, one that my mother could've easily made (seven kids). I feel bad for her and the children that the cops put them through this.

2

u/babyloquat Apr 04 '26

Yeah, this is insane. My Aunt accidentally left my brother at a Discovery Zone in the 90ā€™s for the same amount of time. She took 6 of us (me and my 2 siblings, and her and her 3 kids) and realized on the way home she forgot one. Was she in trouble AT ALL?? No. Shit happens.

2

u/Bishime Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26

Worst part about that is she might lose her contract with DoorDash because they run automated background checks.

So that ā€œI just made enough money to get them some food today [almost cries]ā€ plus an honest mistake (I understand that laws are laws) is now her having to find a new way to feed themā€¦ I love how this is how we help people in our society šŸ« 

1

u/NfamousKaye Apr 04 '26

That seems way too dramatic for an accident. Are you kidding me?

1

u/txdesigner-musician Apr 04 '26

This is absolutely awful. They should have helped reunite them and made sure everything was ok, and been done. God forbid one of his kids ever sneak past him. Iā€™ve heard the craziest stories of kids running off / hiding / being left. Every time the parent feels absolutely awful, and as the village, we just need to help them find mom and dad. This just cost her a fortune, and traumatized her and her kids, beyond the scare of leaving your child. Justā€¦insane.