DC parents leave kids in car for wine tasting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Good parents can make mistakes sometimes. Perhaps these people only meant to leave the kids in the car for a few minutes, got caught up in the party and forgot about them. It happens.

I don't really agree. Yes. Every parent makes mistakes. But the ones that can be forgiven are the absent-minded type or where the parent was really in a tough place (e.g., forgets and leaves the baby gate open. Kid falls down the steps. Or the woman who left her kids in the car while she was interviewing for a job). This just seems really dumb to do. I am certain that I would never go to a party, leave my kids in the car and then get so caught up in the party that I let an hour to by when I intended to be gone for 5 minutes.

[Anonymous]

His statement has been discredited by the cameras. Shame on them. Dumb and dumber.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's my theory:
1. Jennie left idiot DH in the car with the kids and since they were sleeping he got bored and went into the wine tasting and just mingles.

2. Jennie may not have known he was doing this. Depends on how crowded the room was.

3. She finally met up with him and said WTF are you doing get back out there to the car, asshole.

4. He goes back out and there and is busted by MPD.

5. Jennie ambles up all WTF--and then is scrambling to cover DH's ass.

They are going to turn on each other and have separate counsel by the preliminary hearing on the 18th. (Which won't happen on that date anyway as counsel will ask for and receive a continuance.)

Except the security camera shows them both getting out of the car after arriving a few minutes earlier.

Exactly right PP. Cameras show the car parking at 3:38. Both parents get out at 3:44 together, no children. At no point does anyone approach the car until after police arrive at 4:36. At 4:41, father comes out.

I agree the above numbered scenario is extremely unlikely. That said, the police report says the Volvo dropped off a passenger at 3:38, then parked and the driver exited at 3:44.

No it doesn't. Go read it again. BOTH parents exited together at 3:44.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Good parents can make mistakes sometimes. Perhaps these people only meant to leave the kids in the car for a few minutes, got caught up in the party and forgot about them. It happens.

And people who get so crazed about other people's parenting errors are often terrible parents in other ways, so "he who is without sin..."

I'd never leave a kid in a car in this weather though.... Now that is pretty stupid.

I'd like to be charitable to these parents, though. It seems they are being judged very harshly. Everyone makes stupid mistakes, even very smart people.

No, it doesn't. Good parents would have the sense to not leave the kids alone in the car in the first place.

[Anonymous]

I think they really thought their kids were safe and that what they were doing was OK. They were watching them, right? Never mind those frigid temps or the cold noses or freezing little fingers and toes. I want to cry.

I wonder how long the daughter was sobbing hysterically - if she'd been doing that the whole time, part of the time, or just when a big crowd gathered around the car staring at her. Poor baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I agree the above numbered scenario is extremely unlikely. That said, the police report says the Volvo dropped off a passenger at 3:38, then parked and the driver exited at 3:44.

No it doesn't. Go read it again. BOTH parents exited together at 3:44.

Yes, it does. " . . . the video shows the Volvo dropping off a passenger outside the Ris restaurant at 3:38 p.m. The video then shows the Volvo being parked at 1140 23rd Street, NW. At approximately 3:43 p.m. the driver of the Volvo gets out of the Volvo. At approximately 4:35 p.m. the first police officer arrived. During the entire period from 3:38 p.m. to 4:35 p.m. the Volvo is in the view of the video."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Good parents can make mistakes sometimes. Perhaps these people only meant to leave the kids in the car for a few minutes, got caught up in the party and forgot about them. It happens.

And people who get so crazed about other people's parenting errors are often terrible parents in other ways, so "he who is without sin..."

I'd never leave a kid in a car in this weather though.... Now that is pretty stupid.

I'd like to be charitable to these parents, though. It seems they are being judged very harshly. Everyone makes stupid mistakes, even very smart people.

No, it doesn't. Good parents would have the sense to not leave the kids alone in the car in the first place.

it was a wine tasting. not an emergency or an urgent errand.

[Anonymous]

While I'd like to believe they agreed one parent would stay in the car and then switch off with the other one inside and then the one who said they'd stay got bored and came in anyway -- it's unlikely. There's no mention in the police report of them exiting the car separately. And with the phone thing -- she would know that she had to have an open line to his phone all of a sudden - bc she'd have to pick up his call, so it's not like a wife wouldn't ask "um -- why are you calling me from the car and what do you mean I can't hang up?!"

I don't blame one parent more than the other. Even if dad (or mom) was the moron who wanted to do this, is the mom (or dad) SO spineless that she (or he) couldn't say -- not a good idea sweetie, how about you go and I'll stay in the car or better yet take the kids home, have fun. If either one can't stand up to a spouse on a basic issue of safety/childcare and there's some kind of DV or abuse situation at home, better the kids be removed even though I'm sure they're freaking out in foster care.

And to the PP who says "I can tell by looking at the 1 FB pic that she loves her kids" -- um, how exactly!? Bc she has them in her lap with a smile? Bc there's a happy cupcake in front of them? People do all kinds of things for photo opps, you don't know the real story of what's going on in that house.

Obv they didn't expect to get caught, but if they were going to do this whole "we're watching them from the restaurant" thing, they should have -- you know -- watched them. One of them should have come outside every 15-20 min and gotten in the car with them. That may have made the state dept atty curious about what was going on, but he may have backed off if he had looked at the car a few times and seen it empty and then looked a few times and seen an adult in there. Me thinks Jennie was doing just fine inside, but all of a sudden -- the phone which I'm sure was on the lowest volume possible in her purse so that no one could hear her kid's shrieking -- heard the phone go from shrieking to no noise (as kids were removed) and male voices as her loving DH was telling the cops he's the father and is watching them, so she decided to leave the party to see what was going on.

I imagine they were arrested in the street though I don't know why people say they were arrested in Ris and the rest of the party had to leave. After all this they would go back inside -- once their kids are sitting in a squad car and being looked at by EMTs!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I agree the above numbered scenario is extremely unlikely. That said, the police report says the Volvo dropped off a passenger at 3:38, then parked and the driver exited at 3:44.

No it doesn't. Go read it again. BOTH parents exited together at 3:44.

Yes, it does. " . . . the video shows the Volvo dropping off a passenger outside the Ris restaurant at 3:38 p.m. The video then shows the Volvo being parked at 1140 23rd Street, NW. At approximately 3:43 p.m. the driver of the Volvo gets out of the Volvo. At approximately 4:35 p.m. the first police officer arrived. During the entire period from 3:38 p.m. to 4:35 p.m. the Volvo is in the view of the video."

Here is where it says the occupants of the Volvo exited the car at 3:44pm:
https://www.scribd.com/document_downloads/direct/254616290?extension=pdf&ft=1423021339<=1423024949&source=embed&uahk=2MMkuogE/rQaLdKswvyDjN8ndao

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I agree the above numbered scenario is extremely unlikely. That said, the police report says the Volvo dropped off a passenger at 3:38, then parked and the driver exited at 3:44.

No it doesn't. Go read it again. BOTH parents exited together at 3:44.

Yes, it does. " . . . the video shows the Volvo dropping off a passenger outside the Ris restaurant at 3:38 p.m. The video then shows the Volvo being parked at 1140 23rd Street, NW. At approximately 3:43 p.m. the driver of the Volvo gets out of the Volvo. At approximately 4:35 p.m. the first police officer arrived. During the entire period from 3:38 p.m. to 4:35 p.m. the Volvo is in the view of the video."

Both versions occur in the court documents published by USA Today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Good parents can make mistakes sometimes. Perhaps these people only meant to leave the kids in the car for a few minutes, got caught up in the party and forgot about them. It happens.

And people who get so crazed about other people's parenting errors are often terrible parents in other ways, so "he who is without sin..."

I'd never leave a kid in a car in this weather though.... Now that is pretty stupid.

I'd like to be charitable to these parents, though. It seems they are being judged very harshly. Everyone makes stupid mistakes, even very smart people.

No, it doesn't. Good parents would have the sense to not leave the kids alone in the car in the first place.

it was a wine tasting. not an emergency or an urgent errand.

+1. This isn't -- I ran inside to CVS to pick up a prescription and didn't want to move a sick sleeping baby, and it took 5 extra min bc the line was huge OR I saw a few things on sale and ended up grabbing them too and that added 5 min. People feel guilty and nervous enough when they do that as they are picturing something awful happening to their kid. An HOUR? Just chit chatting with others and drinking wine and not wondering at all what may be going on with your kids? And I saw this as someone who isn't even a kid person and think people tend to blow kid safety issues out of proportion these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think they really thought their kids were safe and that what they were doing was OK. They were watching them, right? Never mind those frigid temps or the cold noses or freezing little fingers and toes. I want to cry.

I wonder how long the daughter was sobbing hysterically - if she'd been doing that the whole time, part of the time, or just when a big crowd gathered around the car staring at her. Poor baby.

Get a grip. Do you get off on bad news or something? Rest assured their fingers and noses are warmed by now and the girl has stopped screaming. Bad judgment but let's not make it more than it is -- no one was injured here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think they really thought their kids were safe and that what they were doing was OK. They were watching them, right? Never mind those frigid temps or the cold noses or freezing little fingers and toes. I want to cry.

I wonder how long the daughter was sobbing hysterically - if she'd been doing that the whole time, part of the time, or just when a big crowd gathered around the car staring at her. Poor baby.

Perhaps not long? Perhaps this is the reason the husband came out to the car?

But the police report said that the person who called police said he'd been watching the car for 10 minutes, and no one came out to the car during that time. But it did not say that the child was crying until the police approached the car. So perhaps the child just started crying, the father heard the crying on the phone, and rushed out to the car to deal with the kids.

None of it really matters since it's such an outrageously stupid thing to leave your two toddlers in the car on a winter day on a city street! I can't imagine what the parents were thinking?

But some parents really do see their kids as accessories, and a nuisance. And perhaps these parents really don't interact with their kids that much. They leave them to the nanny all week, so weekends are a PITA for them? It's possible.

I know a couple who adopted a baby, hired a nanny, then kept on with their weekends in the country, leaving the baby at home with the nanny!! It was truly appalling, but they really didn't want to change their comfy lifestyle for this little baby, who was basically an accessory to their very comfortable, wealthy life. All their friends had babies, so they wanted one too! Ghastly. That poor kid.

These people have a million dollar house. Can't they come up with the cash for a babysitter?

And what a stupid idea to "babysit" their kids with their cell phones! I still can't get over leaving one's children in a parked car on a city street! In the winter! They aren't stuffed animals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't find a picture of them anywhere. Does anyone have a link?

I can't either. Looks like they promptly took down all of their FB/LinkedIn/Twitter pages. I'm sure their expensive lawyers know what to do when shit hits the fan.

Is this her?

https://www.facebook.com/jennie.chang1?fref=ts

I'm getting the "content currently unavailable" message when I click on your link.

You have to be logged into FB already before you click the link for the page to show up. If you get "Content currently unavailable" you are not logged in. Open another tab and log into FB, then click the link and you'll see the page.

No that's not why. It's the privacy settings.

Interesting, because when I first clicked on the link, I couldn't see it, but when I went to a new tab and logged into FB, surprise, I could see it.

[Anonymous]

Are we sure that is the right FB page or are we just guessing?
I know that woman, or more so I know that little girl. As previously posted she was in the same daycare/preK as my DS last year (he was in pre/K she was in the twos class). If this is not the right person I feel awful about us all associating the family in the pic with the family in story.

Trust me I do not condone what was done AT ALL. I am just saying if this is not the right FB page it is pretty awful to post it. If it is the right pic I am in shock b/c I have seen both parents and I have talked to the little girl several times (at this center the twos and preK are together for the earliest and latest parts of the day).