Daughter Calls 9-1-1 To Report Allegedly Drunk Mom

[Anti Federalist]

Two comments on this:

I'm having trouble digesting the "burn the heretic at the stake" tone of this article.

And, I wonder how long it took to track that cel phone?



Daughter Calls 9-1-1 To Report Allegedly Drunk Mom

Trapped With Little Brother In Car, Jamie Hicks' Little Girl Called Authorities As Altercation Ensued On I-84

ISLIP, N.Y. (CBS)

http://wcbstv.com/local/dwi.mom.jamie.2.1826451.html

It was a terrifying ride for two children with their mother allegedly drunk behind the wheel.

Police said the Long Island mom was arrested after her daughter made desperate calls for help on her cell phone.

"I don't know how to respond to that except shocking. What do you do in that situation?" Islip neighbor Marenn Faricano said.

Authorities said the 13-year-old daughter of Jamie Hicks frantically called 911 several times as their green Buick sped along I-84 on Sunday night.

Police said the girl told the dispatcher her mom is drunk. The dispatcher heard lots of screaming and yelling and said the girl claimed her mom was hitting her, and there were multiple hang-ups. The daughter called back again and police said there was more screaming and yelling.

"She seems like a nice lady. I've never seen anything odd, never seen any kind of drinking situations," neighbor Andrew Cole said.

Neighbors like Cole were stunned to hear about their neighbor, and how she allegedly endangered her son and daughter.

"That's horrible. I wouldn't think that's the way she would treat them. That's horrible," Cole said.

Police finally pulled Hicks over after pinpointing the cell phone signal. When Hicks was tested, police said her blood alcohol was point .18, more than twice the legal limit, sickening to neighbors given she was with her children.

"That's not right. You should take care of her. Put her in jail now. That's no good," Jason Weiss said.

Hicks will be charged under Leandra's Law, which makes it a felony to drive drunk with children in the car. It could be argued one of Hicks' children may have saved all of their lives.

Hicks was released on bond. She's due back in court in three weeks.

[dannno]

Amazing.. that a 13 year old girl couldn't TELL them where they were on the freeway and they had to locate her phone with a satellite..

But ya, the whole point of having those newer cell phone chips was so they could locate the phone in the event of a 911 call.

[Petar]

I know the whole concept of blood-alcohol limits may be debatable, but if this women really was endangering her kids (along with the public in general), which does seem to be a distinct possibility, then I guess that the kid probably did the right thing.

When I was a kid, my mom called the cops on me for some fraud that I did, and though I was insanely pissed-off at her at the time, I'm glad that she did, because I really think that punishment ended up teaching me that I was doing something truly wrong.

[Philhelm]

Indeed, how long did it take to track the cell phone...?

[Kludge]

Police finally pulled Hicks over after pinpointing the cell phone signal. When Hicks was tested, police said her blood alcohol was point .18, more than twice the legal limit, sickening to neighbors given she was with her children.

"That's not right. You should take care of her. Put her in jail now. That's no good," Jason Weiss said.

Hope Jason has a gun...

[Clairvoyant]

You know how in 1984 the parents are afraid of the children? yeah...

Twice the legal limit is nothing from a practical standpoint IMO.

You have to take into consideration the amount of drunk driving propaganda that goes on at public schools at an early age.

If the mom gets the felony, the kid will probably end up being raised by the state, she probably hurt herself more than anyone by calling the cops.

[Clairvoyant]

I know the whole concept of blood-alcohol limits may be debatable, but if this women really was endangering her kids (along with the public in general), which does seem to be a distinct possibility, then I guess that the kid probably did the right thing.

When I was a kid, my mom called the cops on me for some fraud that I did, and though I was insanely pissed-off at her at the time, I'm glad that she did, because I really think that punishment ended up teaching me that I was doing something truly wrong.

Maybe back when you were a kid, not sure how old you are, but these days calling the cops is not at all worth the risk for just about everything.

[Anti Federalist]

You know how in 1984 the parents are afraid of the children? yeah...

Twice the legal limit is nothing from a practical standpoint IMO.

You have to take into consideration the amount of drunk driving propaganda that goes on at public schools at an early age.

If the mom gets the felony, the kid will probably end up being raised by the state, she probably hurt herself more than anyone by calling the cops.

That's pretty much what I was thinking as well.

Sure, .18 is enough for the state to de facto claim reckless operation, but what's missing is, was there, in fact, any reckless operation taking place.

And now the state will raise those kids and mom will spend 10 years in a cage.

[Petar]

Maybe back when you were a kid, not sure how old you are, but these days calling the cops is not at all worth the risk for just about everything.

Depends.

If the lady was really unstable, then an impromptu tasing and/or sudden death could very well have soon occurred.

If she had any brains at all, then she more than likely would have just been arrested, which is apparently what happened.

[MelissaWV]

I'm having trouble with this one. Is it that you guys think the daughter is just lying outright? I don't care what the BAC was on the mom... if the daughter was so freaked out that she felt she had to dial 9-1-1, it merits some investigation, no? Of course, if it turns out that mom was not driving poorly, the police should ideally have some massive apologizing to do, with adequate compensation for all the bull$#@! they caused. That's not going to happen. The teen should also be charged with filing a falsie. I doubt that'd happen, too, probably under some "we don't want to discourage people from calling 9-1-1" theory.

Some of you have a "burn the witch" attitude towards the daughter.

Perhaps it really, really sucks to be in a dangerous situation with someone else behind the wheel, unable to stop the vehicle and unable to get the person driving to start driving safely? Perhaps it's a bit difficult to tell precisely where you are sometimes, especially if you can't see the mile markers going past, or didn't take note of the last cheerful billboard?

The cellphone tracking is alarming, and I wish things like that were utterly optional like OnStar purports to be. The fact a teen would call the cops on her mom is not alarming.

[KCIndy]

Virtually every cell phone sold in this country since January 2006 has "enhanced 911" capability. Only way to get around that is to physically pull the battery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_911

As for the kid, I imagine the reason she called 911 is NOT because her mom was drunk, but because the woman was driving like an idiot while beating on the kid at the same time. Assuming for the moment that the girl is telling the truth, I'll have to vote my support for the girl on this one.

[brandon]

I think most of you know I am anti - dui laws. But when it involves scaring the $#@! out of your children to the point where they call 911 several times from the backseat of your car, I can understand a criminal investigation with potential legal consequences if found guilty.

[Anti Federalist]

Virtually every cell phone sold in this country since January 2006 has "enhanced 911" capability. Only way to get around that is to physically pull the battery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_911

Or a Faraday bag.

[fisharmor]

Yeah, well, considering every other cop-related thread I've read on this forum....
...all I gotta say is, if a cop said "good morning" to me, I'd be running to a window to see if it was actually night.

[ClayTrainor]

I think most of you know I am anti - dui laws. But when it involves scaring the $#@! out of your children to the point where they call 911 several times from the backseat of your car, I can understand a criminal investigation with potential legal consequences if found guilty.

I don't think there's a rational person on this planet that could disagree with that.

[Kludge]

Yeah, well, considering every other cop-related thread I've read on this forum....
...all I gotta say is, if a cop said "good morning" to me, I'd be running to a window to see if it was actually night.

Seems like suspicious behavior....