A mom in Georgia is facing charges of reckless conduct and a seat belt violation after reportedly driving down the road with her son in the open trunk of a Dodge Challenger. Shortly after a video of the incident went viral online, police tracked down the woman at her home. Law enforcement officers arrested her but she’s already out of jail and awaiting her trial date.
Gwinnett County Police first heard of the incident through a third party who saw the video online. In the short clip (embedded below), it’s evident that a child is in the open trunk of a car along with something else. According to authorities, they had to do some digging to figure out who the owner of the vehicle was and to determine whether it was even a recent video.
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With the assistance of a camera system called Flock, police found the vehicle and additional images of it driving with the child in the trunk. They utilized license plate data to identify the owner and meet with her on February 27th. Authorities found that the item in the trunk with the boy was a bassinet. According to reports, the 12-year old child was there to serve as a makeshift human ratchet strap to secure the cargo in the trunk. You can’t make this stuff up…
Unsurprisingly, police didn’t take kindly to that sort of behavior and subsequently arrested the mother for reckless conduct and a seat belt violation. They booked her into the Gwinnett County Jail and a family member took custody of the boy. Since then, the driver has bonded out. Police didn’t confirm whether the reckless conduct charge was a misdemeanor or a felony.
In the case of the former, the maximum sentence is 12 months in jail and a $1,000 fine. In the case of the latter, it could carry a sentence of 20 years. Police can use the same charge in instances of driving while intoxicated, driving at extremely high speed, or playing with a firearm according to JDMLawFirm.