Dad arrested because tow truck took his kids....

[Kulindahr]

Life is weird: a dad leaves his two kids in the car while he dashes in to leave groceries in his apartment, and a tow truck driver tows away the car -- with the kids in it.

Hard to believe, but:

A Texas father was arrested Thursday after his car was towed with his children in the back seat.

Victor Ruiz, of Houston, TX, left his two children in the car while running inside with groceries. Gone for only a minute, he returned to find his car had been towed with the two young girls still inside.

Despite neighbors telling the driver there were kids, he just hooked up the car and towed it -- and then two miles later claims he "noticed" them!

Seems to me the wrong guy is going to jail.

But in Texas, should I be surprised?


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...r-return-theyve-towed-away.html#ixzz2cdFhoaMG

 

[cynicus]

Long ago I added Texas to Arizona and Florida as states i would never spend a dime or a minute in. I know that all the citizens in those states are not wacky, but the % is large enough to frighten me!

 

[gsdx]

The father is arrested for abandonment, but the driver was on notice. He should be charged with kidnapping.

 

[Kulindahr]

The father is arrested for abandonment, but the driver was on notice. He should be charged with kidnapping.

Yes, the driver should -- and the charges against the dad should be dropped, unless we want to start arresting parents who leave their kids in a safe place with neighbors to keep an eye on them for "abandonment".

The only abandonment that took place was the police abandoning good sense.

 

[Telstra]

Story like these the tow truck driver and the police should be charged with something.

 

[Beachguyj]

First of all it doesn't take less than a minute to tow a car so he was gone for longer.

The tow truck driver should be arrested too. It should be a law that he should check if there are people or animals inside. boot the car instead.

 

[Georgiadude]

My thoughts exactly. He was gone longer than a minute. Regardless. That tow truck driver was just out to make a quick buck. They cruise lots like vultures just looking for a reason to tow someone. He should be arrested for child endangerment. He was on noticethere were kids I'm the car. He had to get out of there before the owner showed up. I hope the parents sure the hell out of the driver and the company he works for. I've lost all faith in the police. After seeing them destroy evidence in a drive by shooting and lie on a ticket issued to me I don't trust any of them to do the right thing. Especially in Gwinnett co Georgia.

Steven

 

[Kulindahr]

First of all it doesn't take less than a minute to tow a car so he was gone for longer.

The tow truck driver should be arrested too. It should be a law that he should check if there are people or animals inside. boot the car instead.

If the car is parked where the space behind it is clear, an experienced tow guy can grab the car and be moving in twenty seconds -- I've watched the two guys here do it more than once, when my dad was manager of some apartments and we had vehicles towed that were abandoned. They just back up, latch on the hook, pop the car on the tow dolly, and they're off.

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

The only abandonment that took place was the police abandoning good sense.

With abandon.

 

[Beachguyj]

If the car is parked where the space behind it is clear, an experienced tow guy can grab the car and be moving in twenty seconds -- I've watched the two guys here do it more than once, when my dad was manager of some apartments and we had vehicles towed that were abandoned. They just back up, latch on the hook, pop the car on the tow dolly, and they're off.

While it may be possible to do it under a minute it doesn't seem reasonable that they did. You have to back the two truck up, and connect and secure it to whatever the thing that holds the tires are called.

The point is that he should not have left his kids in the car unattended. In even a minute they can be kidnapped or killed. I know many people are lazy and do and nothing happens, but something can happen. Even leaving a kid in your carseat getting gas with the key in the ignition is dangerous if you go in to pay cash. I've seen stories of people putting their groceries away from the supermarket cart to their trunk and putting the kid in the carseat first and that can be dangerous too.

 

[palbert]

That's one way to get rid of them.

If the tow truck driver was a government contractor can the father claim that there is no offense because the drive would be a "safe harbor?"

 

[Kulindahr]

The point is that he should not have left his kids in the car unattended. In even a minute they can be kidnapped or killed. I know many people are lazy and do and nothing happens, but something can happen. Even leaving a kid in your carseat getting gas with the key in the ignition is dangerous if you go in to pay cash. I've seen stories of people putting their groceries away from the supermarket cart to their trunk and putting the kid in the carseat first and that can be dangerous too.

So kids with neighbors watching them aren't attended? Would it have counted as being attended if he'd offered to pay those neighbors?

"Something can happen" applies wherever the kids may be. The shelves in a store could fall over -- shall we start arresting parents for taking their kids to stores with shelves?

Of course the parent puts the kid in the car seat first! A gust of wind could make the cart roll, putting the kid in front of an oncoming car, or another driver might get sloppy and ram the cart! Or do you mean the parent should let the kids stand there in the parking lot? I'd think that would mean they should be arrested for abandoning the kids, because they're paying attention to loading the groceries, not to the kids.

 

[Beachguyj]

So kids with neighbors watching them aren't attended? Would it have counted as being attended if he'd offered to pay those neighbors?

"Something can happen" applies wherever the kids may be. The shelves in a store could fall over -- shall we start arresting parents for taking their kids to stores with shelves?

Of course the parent puts the kid in the car seat first! A gust of wind could make the cart roll, putting the kid in front of an oncoming car, or another driver might get sloppy and ram the cart! Or do you mean the parent should let the kids stand there in the parking lot? I'd think that would mean they should be arrested for abandoning the kids, because they're paying attention to loading the groceries, not to the kids.

I'm not going to argue with you since you are going in circles.

He was arrested for leaving his children unattended. that's the only fact we know. Anything else he says could be a lie.

 

[Kulindahr]

I'm not going to argue with you since you are going in circles.

He was arrested for leaving his children unattended. that's the only fact we know. Anything else he says could be a lie.

And the neighbors who said they were asked to watch the kids -- are they lying, too?

That's quite a conspiracy you have going. Did they arrange it while the tow driver was hooking up to the car? That would have been hard; I'd think the dad would have been protesting the towing or at least grabbing his kids. So he must have taken several minutes to gather the neighbors and get them to agree on a story before there was a tow truck involved, right?

The facts we know are that there were neighbors watching the lids, who told the tow driver there were kids in the car but he took it anyway. It's either that or some bizarre conspiracy to hide child abandonment when they didn't even know a tow truck was coming.

 

[Beachguyj]

And the neighbors who said they were asked to watch the kids -- are they lying, too?

Perhaps, there are at least 2 sides to a story and then there is the truth. When the story doesn't sound logical on both ends that means that people are lying.

 

[Kulindahr]

Perhaps, there are at least 2 sides to a story and then there is the truth. When the story doesn't sound logical on both ends that means that people are lying.

The account by the dad and the neighbors is perfectly logical.

The cops arrested the wrong guy.