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A San Diego woman has been jailed on suspicion of locking her 7-year-old son in the trunk of her Volvo while she celebrated her birthday with friends at an Ocean Beach bar, police said yesterday.
The boy told officers he had been locked in the trunk for safekeeping at least a dozen times in the past, for four or five hours at a time.
"I've been in this job four years, and I thought I'd seen it all until this," said child abuse Detective Steve Flores.
Sara Powell, who officers said lives with a boyfriend in a motor home, was being held at the Las Colinas Detention Facility in Santee on suspicion of one count of child cruelty and one count of false imprisonment, according to Sheriff's Department records. Bail was set at $80,000.
The boy was found after San Diego police got an anonymous 911 call from the bar early Monday.
Powell, who turned 27 on Sunday, said she was planning to meet friends at Winston's Beach Club in Ocean Beach on Sunday night and could not find a baby sitter, authorities said.
So, she put her son, a sleeping bag and a pillow in the trunk of the 1985 Volvo about 9 p.m. and told the boy to go to sleep, then went inside to drink, police said.
Police were called after midnight. The boy was found in good condition about 1 a.m.
The boy was taken to the Polinsky Center for children. On the way, he told officers he thought it was weird that he would be locked in the trunk and told to go to sleep, police said.
Terrill Struttmann, founder and executive director of the Washington, Mo., nonprofit Kids 'N Cars, whose mission is to inform the public of the dangers of leaving children unattended in vehicles, was shocked when told of the incident. In most instances, people lock the children in the passenger compartment to run errands. Struttmann said.
"We just don't hear of this happening ? people locking their kids in a car trunk," he said. "It can prove fatal. We say never leave your children unattended in a vehicle, even for a minute."
When police paged the woman to get her out of the bar to open the trunk, the boy's first words to his mother when he saw her with three officers were, "I didn't tell them anything," authorities said.
Police said Powell was living with a male companion in a motor home in Pacific Beach. The boyfriend was in the bar with the woman at the time but was not arrested.
Authorities could not say yesterday whether Powell's son was enrolled in school.
fucking sad
:cry:
The boy told officers he had been locked in the trunk for safekeeping at least a dozen times in the past, for four or five hours at a time.
"I've been in this job four years, and I thought I'd seen it all until this," said child abuse Detective Steve Flores.
Sara Powell, who officers said lives with a boyfriend in a motor home, was being held at the Las Colinas Detention Facility in Santee on suspicion of one count of child cruelty and one count of false imprisonment, according to Sheriff's Department records. Bail was set at $80,000.
The boy was found after San Diego police got an anonymous 911 call from the bar early Monday.
Powell, who turned 27 on Sunday, said she was planning to meet friends at Winston's Beach Club in Ocean Beach on Sunday night and could not find a baby sitter, authorities said.
So, she put her son, a sleeping bag and a pillow in the trunk of the 1985 Volvo about 9 p.m. and told the boy to go to sleep, then went inside to drink, police said.
Police were called after midnight. The boy was found in good condition about 1 a.m.
The boy was taken to the Polinsky Center for children. On the way, he told officers he thought it was weird that he would be locked in the trunk and told to go to sleep, police said.
Terrill Struttmann, founder and executive director of the Washington, Mo., nonprofit Kids 'N Cars, whose mission is to inform the public of the dangers of leaving children unattended in vehicles, was shocked when told of the incident. In most instances, people lock the children in the passenger compartment to run errands. Struttmann said.
"We just don't hear of this happening ? people locking their kids in a car trunk," he said. "It can prove fatal. We say never leave your children unattended in a vehicle, even for a minute."
When police paged the woman to get her out of the bar to open the trunk, the boy's first words to his mother when he saw her with three officers were, "I didn't tell them anything," authorities said.
Police said Powell was living with a male companion in a motor home in Pacific Beach. The boyfriend was in the bar with the woman at the time but was not arrested.
Authorities could not say yesterday whether Powell's son was enrolled in school.
fucking sad
:cry:
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