Sometimes I read a story and think that someone is putting me on, or that it is from the satirical Babylon Bee. However, the following is neither, as it is a true story. It really happened!
Initially I read about it on Twitchy:
“Brittany Patterson was charged with reckless conduct after deputies said her 10-year-old son walked less than a mile to a store from their north Georgia home.”
From the NY Post:
Brittany Patterson, 41, of Mineral Bluff, Ga., was arrested by the Fannin County Sheriff’s Department on Oct. 30 after she left her son alone at home and he wandered less than a mile into town. The Fannin County Sheriff’s Department initially called the mom to alert her to the fact that her son, Soren, was unaccompanied in the town located near the North Carolina border.
“It’s not a super dangerous or even dangerous-at-all stretch of road,” Patterson told the outlet, referring to the street that leads from their rural home to the town of Mineral Bluff. “I wasn’t terrified for him or scared for his safety.”
Deputies drove Soren home and, hours later, returned to handcuff and arrest her in front of her family.
Patterson was booked on suspicion of reckless conduct and posted a $500 bond, according to the report.
The mom said she was angered and frustrated that her children had to witness her being handcuffed and booked by police.
The Sheriff’s Office has offered to drop charges if Patterson signs a form that outlines a safety plan for her kids, she and her lawyer say, according to NBC. Patterson has rejected an offer to drop the charges, arguing they are entirely unwarranted.
There are so many things wrong here that I don’t know where to start.
First: Mineral Bluff is a census-designated place and unincorporated community located in Fannin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its population was 223 as of the 2020 census.
Basically, it’s a nothin’ town located in the middle of nowhere.
This is not a crowded crime infested area.
Second: Ms. Patterson was not at home because she was taking another of her children to the doctor … not exactly what an uncaring mother would be doing. (Taking an otherwise well child into a waiting room full of sick children is hardly ever a good idea!)
Third: When asked what she was being arrested for, the haughty cop answered, “we don’t answer questions.” A polite question followed by a smart-ass answer!
Fourth: Handcuffs!! OMG! Really! I saw the video, and there was absolutely no sign of resistance by Brittany Patterson. And handcuffed in front of her children!
Fifth: “Reckless Conduct?” Reckless conduct is a phrase used to describe a type of behavior in negligence lawsuits. Reckless conduct is any behavior where the defendant knew or should have known that their actions would harm another person.
Is the perceived negligence because she did not lock her son in the house while she went to the doctor’s office? Is her “reckless conduct” that she did not command her ten-year old to stay in the house?
If Soren had walked one-hundred feet from his house would this also have been reckless? How about a block? What is the distance criteria for the term, “reckless conduct” to apply. If Soren was eleven, would the same perceived “reckless conduct” apply?
To me it seems totally arbitrary!
Sixth: The police apparently waited about five hours before going to the Patterson house to arrest her. Were the arresting officers acting because some “woke” uppity-up ordered them to do so? Is there some other background information that we do not know?
Seventh: “Drop the charges in exchange for placing a monitoring device on Soren’s phone!” Does this imply that Soren actually has a phone … perhaps a phone with which to call his mother if need be?
I hope that I will be able to follow-up on this story. Certainly Britany Patterson will be suing the Fannin County Sheriff’s Department.
It’s police work like this that potentially gives all cops a bad name!
11/19/24