Dad let 9-year-old drive, police say
Shawn Weimer, 39, was arrested after officers pulled over the pair on King Road near Dean in Brownstown Township at 2:46 a.m. Oct. 8, according to Brownstown Township Police.
+drunk dad 9 year old daughter drive. His daughter was sitting behind the wheel in a child’s booster seat when an officer opened the driver’s side door of the full-sized panel van that Weimer uses for work, Detective Lt. Robert Grant said today.
Another driver called police after spotting the pair stopped at a gas station at Telegraph and West. The caller watched the little girl get in the driver’s seat and pull the vehicle out onto West Road. The caller then followed the van until police could catch up, Grant said. +drunk dad 9 year old daughter drive, drunken dad 9-year-old drive,
“She’s like 7 years old, driving,” the caller told the 911 dispatcher, estimating the age of the 9-year-old girl, and chuckling on the tape released today by Brownstown Township Police. “Oops, she’s got her turn signal on and she’s turning right on Beech Daly.” 9 year old van,
“Are you sure the child’s driving, sir?” the dispatcher asked.
“Yes,” he replied. “The guy at the gas station couldn’t believe it, either.”
The dispatcher asked the man to put on his four-way flashers as he was following the child driving on West, approaching King Road.
“She’s driving pretty good, I’m telling ya. I can’t believe it,” the man told the dispatcher.
Officers apparently caught up with the girl at King Road, pulling across the intersection as she approached, according to the caller.
“She’s right there and put her turn signal on,” he said, chuckling again. “She just went left. She just went right past your cars – she’s still driving. She’s going West on King.”
The dispatcher thanked the man and hung up as police stopped the little girl.
Weimer told officers he was teaching his daughter to drive, Grant said.
“Then he was argumentative with us, that it was his right to teach his daughter how to drive,” Grant said. The daughter told officers her father had been drinking whiskey all night, took her out to drive, and then decided to stop at the gas station, he said.
“Very sweet, intelligent little girl,” Grant said. The girl’s parents are separated, and she was with her father for the weekend, he added. After questioning her, officers contacted her maternal grandfather when they couldn’t reach her mother in Lincoln Park. The grandfather picked her up from the police station, Grant said.
At the station, Weimer refused to take a breath test, Grant said. He was charged with second-degree child abuse, a 4-year felony, and fourth-degree child abuse, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. He was also charged with being a habitual offender and could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison if convicted. The charge stems from convictions on four prior felonies, including receiving and concealing stolen property, unarmed robbery, a felon in possession of a firearm and felony firearm possession, Grant said.
According to the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office, Weimer was convicted of driving while intoxicated in connection with an October 2007 crash in Wyandotte and had his license restricted for a year, spokesman Fred Woodhams said today. But he has a valid Michigan driver’s license with no points, Woodhams added.
Weimer’s preliminary examination is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in 33rd District Court in Woodhaven. Judge Michael K. McNally arraigned Weimer Oct. 10, giving him a personal recognizance bond with the conditions that he not have contact with his daughter and he pay $25,000 if he does not appear in court. A public defender has been assigned to his case, according to court records. 9 year old van
Weimer could not be reached by the Free Press today.
Wayne County Child Protective Services is also investigating the case, Grant said.
Source: freep
