Mother lucky to not be Tazed
Thursday, 13 December 2007 by Jacob TomawLast weekend in the suburbs, Ellen “Treffly” Coyne took her children to Wal-Mart to donate some money to Salvation army. As a result she was arrested.
“My 2-year-old had fallen fast asleep,” Coyne said. “It was sleeting, and I said, ‘I’m not going to risk carrying my kid and falling.’”
Pretty sound thinking if you ask me.
So she turned off the engine, put her hazard lights on, locked the car and walked 30 feet from the car to get a few snapshots of the girls, Coyne said.
“I was always within ear- and eyeshot of the car,” Coyne said. “It was a five-minute affair.”
But that was enough time to get the mother of three in serious trouble with the law.
Coyne said when she turned around, a uniformed police officer was standing by her car and told Coyne, “You’re not going anywhere.”
She was not only arrested for child endangerment but like any reasonable person she resisted being arrested. (Resisting arrest has to be the most prevalent charge in America, right?)
So according to the police officer she was endangering her daughter. How did the agents of the state rectify this?
Officers then went to her car and started the engine with the baby inside — “exposing my child to carbon monoxide poisoning,” Coyne said. She assumed the other girls were in police custody.
She assumed wrong. The great protector of children had …
“…abandoned my other daughters at the Wal-Mart,” said Janecyk, who eventually found them seated on a bench in the Wal-Mart. “I asked them why they didn’t ask for help, but they said the police scared them.”
Is it possible we live in a police state, but generally have not realized it yet?
December 14th, 2007 at 15:49
That is so sad. Especially when there are people out there who are legitimately endangering their children.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:29
My name is Tim Janecyk. I am Treffly’s husband and the father of the little girls whos suffered through so much that night in front of the Walmart. The kids were bored at my office and collected all of that change. They just wanted to do a good thing, and the night ended with my broken and hurt family returning home in pieces. Police are people too, there are good cops out there, these guys just made some bad mistakes and judgements. We’ve asked only that the charges be dropped and my little girls get an apology… maybe some plastic badges and a tour of the police department. Instead, nine days later the Police Chief Timothy Sulikowski can only defend his officers with ‘no comment.’ He will not release to us a copy of the police report or the video. Instead, in his rush to protect our safe and secure 2 year old, sleeping and warm in a locked and shut off car, his department saw fit to arrest my wife, put her in handcuffs in front of her children and take her to jail. Those children never deserved what happened to them in Crestwood that night. All we ask for is justice. Let the police redeem themselves in the eyes of the world and make it right for my wife, my children and I. She is a wonderful mother. And those children, as young as they are know that what the police did that night was wrong. Chief Sulikowski, you still have time to make it right for them. Why don’t we talk about it, fix it and go put some change in that bucket and take a picture they can remember forever, of a picture where the world was right… not so terribly wrong as it was made that night. Thanks to all of you around the world who have sent us messages of support, they sustain us in this tough time.
March 12th, 2008 at 10:26
This is definitely a case of abuse, not child abuse but abuse of power by the police. Obviously it had been a slow day for the police. This unfortunately gives good cops a bad name. Most police officers, who think before they act, are going to get a bad rap because of the few who don’t think. This was hardly a situation where “quick thinking” was required. After the mother was arrested, the children (all of them) were now in the custody of the police. So what did they do? They started the car, but still left the 2-year-old unattended in the car. Isn’t that what got the mother arrested in the first place? Shouldn’t the police officer be arrested now? Not only that, but they left the other children unattended as well. Brilliant!
For the family: Take comfort in the fact that, even though the police chief isn’t on your side, the rest of America is.
For the police chief: Get off your high horse, apologize, and take action to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.
May Peace AND JUSTICE prevail!
March 12th, 2008 at 11:07
I can’t even begin to think of the hardship this whole affair has brought onto this family. I’m so angry I could scream and our government’s and even society eagerness to punish those who mean no harm in any way possible. It’s truly disgusting that this woman was treated so poorly in front of her children who will no doubt bear the scars of witnessing that for years to come. I have three small children too and there have been times when they were left in a shut off car just outside a shop door for a mere couple of minutes or so too. I will say that there was always concern for their safety but also a constant, back of the mind thought that this was probably not the smartest thing to do. Sometimes, convenience and practicality out way what the true best thing is to do. As a parent, you always have the safety of yours kids on the forefront of your thoughts but juggling errand running, shopping and keeping an eye on three babies makes things down right difficult at best. She should have been warned, out of true concern, but certainly not arrested. More damage has been done by the authorities than anyone else as far as I can determine. A warning would have reminded her that if it is at all possible to never leave your children unattended than all attempts to avoid this situation could be made prior to her heading out that day. I support her and her family though. I know what it’s like to just try to get something quickly done with as little hassle as possible. We realize we could easily be the moms who are heartbroken because something really did happen to the children in that short time framing but I just can’t agree that punishing her beyond a warning in this case is warranted.
March 12th, 2008 at 11:51
I am behind the curve on this one because I am just finding out about this, but I guess I need to be handcuffed as well. I have done the same thing in the rain here in Florida but always in site of the car and never more than a couple of minutes. Shame on you Chicago!
March 12th, 2008 at 12:07
This is just another case of unwarranted police intervention into people’s lives. The police (and now the DA) have created a huge problem for this family where there was no problem before. The death of common sense and another step forward for The Almighty Police State. The baby was never in any danger, unless you want to judge danger by an absolute standard. In that case, you have to consider that if Mom had taken the baby out of the car, they could’ve been struck by lightning or hit by baseball-sized hail. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. TO THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY: ADMIT THAT PROSECUTION OF THIS CASE IS WRONG AND DISMISS THE CHARGE.
March 12th, 2008 at 13:06
I just read this story, and felt the need to speak up. Treffly, you did the right thing. Police officers, what the ?!*% were you thinking, and what is the district attorney there in Chicago thinking? Wasting taxpayer resources on this? If the child was strapped in a child car seat, as I assume she was, and the car was locked, and it was not 90 degrees outside, which I also assume since it was December in Chicago, and mom was standing within feet of the car in plain view, what danger faced that child? Furthermore, what danger did she face that is any different than if mom had been driving the car on the highway? It seems that the response time for Treffly to get back to the car can’t have been greater than if she had to pull over, come to a stop, unbuckle her own seatbelt, and get to the back seat! There are so many other problems with the way the situation was handled that I could go on for pages, but I’ll keep it short. This is just another indication of the direction this country is going. We have given so much authority to police, who have a few weeks of academy training before being put into service as interpreters of our laws. What they fail to realize oftentimes is that laws have to make sense, they have to be reasonable. This was clearly not a reasonable interpretation of child welfare laws. But if you dare question an officer’s reasoning, you find yourself in danger of a “resisting arrest” or “obstruction” charge. There is an old adage in the legal profession, at least where I’m from, that citizens have a fundamental right to resist an unlawful arrest, and as soon as you are released from the hospital, you can assert that right. I sincerely hope that the D.A. dismisses this absurd charge before any more grief is piled on to you Treffly, and I would be thrilled to see the next chapter of this saga entitled “Mother Sues Police Department and District Attorney for Malicious Prosecution.”
March 12th, 2008 at 15:56
I do not understand why child protective services or even the police got involved in this matter. She never left the child unattended . We live in a country where good parents must live in fear or being procecuted for the smallest of offenses with our children . On the other hand the bad parents , the parents out here on drugs , mentally or physically abusing thier children, often go years or more before the state or police even check in the reports of abuse. These are children who somehow slip through the cracks of the system , children that pay the ultimate price for the abuse… It is the parents of these children that we need to procecute. This mom clearly cares for her children ..it should have never come this far.
March 13th, 2008 at 11:53
The police officer committed the crime. Abusing her position. She should be fired for using bad judgement. She assumed “Kid alone in car = endangerment), NOT TRUE, there are many other factors a resonable person would consider. What if Coyne was standing 20 feet, 10 feet, 5 feet away? Must a parent be touching their kids at all times? Seems a locked car with flashers on 30 feet away is a very SAFE place for a child to be. I can’t believe anyone would be that arrogant and unreasonable, especially a police officer. No wonder the police often get a bad name and bad reputation. Who would trust their judgement after that? PLEASE FIRE THAT OFFICER. The Child was NOT at risk.
There are MILLIONS and MILLIONS of parents that do a whole lot more questionable things than that every single day, even responsible POLICE officers do.
March 13th, 2008 at 15:22
I just read this article about what happened to your wife. I work in a business building in Irvine California. I am the father of a five year old. Your wife did nothing wrong at all. This is ridiculous. Yes there are rare horrible instances where a parent leaves a child in a hot car and goes in to shop. In fact that happened to me when I was child. A step mother left me in the car e when I was little and I was able to get out. However, this is very rare nowadays but always horrible when it does happen. But this is an abuse of authority by the police. This is pathetic and i am going to call that police department and tell them that. How many times have parents had to run into a gas station when a child is asleep to pay an attendant, which takes about 30 seconds. Does that mean they are criminals? Of course not. It is the rare “parent” who is stupid and self-centered in the extreme who leaves a child in a car out of sight to go shopping. This was obviously not the case. This cop set your wife up. The “police officer” should be immediately be fired. What is she going to do next tazer someone for jay-walking, or shoot someone for making an illegal U turn? This “officer” has to go.
March 13th, 2008 at 15:39
In the article in the Orange County Register Janette Fennell of “Kids and Cars” was quoted as saying “thousands of children are injured and dozens die every year after being left unattended near or inside vehicles.” “I am talking tens of thousands of people who leave their kids in the care for any period of time all around America.” said, Janette Fennell, founder and president of the Kansas of based Kids and Cars.
When I called this “agency” they could NOT provide where they get these statistics and simply got defensive when questioned. I asked how they knew there were “thousands of injured children every year” that they must have some data to prove this claim by their president and they were NOT able to provide any.
The truth probably is that children being injured or dying from being left unattended in a car is extremely rare. The best data that I could find lists the number of deaths for children in cars at less then 5 per year. If this firm has better data to back up their claims of “thousands of injuries per year and dozens of deaths” they either could not provide it or would not provide it.
March 14th, 2008 at 15:06
[…] December, I told you about Treffly Coyne and the night she was arrested at Wal-Mart for not parenting the way the […]
April 11th, 2008 at 0:22
When you don’t have a clue on the topic, don’t even try to write anything! First find out what people are talking about, and then write what you think!!!