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Police: Boy, 10, Left In Car While Man Goes Drinking
June 7, 2013
An Escambia County man was arrested early this morning and charged with child neglect after he left a 10-year-old boy unsupervised in an unlocked car while he was allegedly drinking alcohol inside a downtown business.
Gerald Lawson Chatwood, 48, was arrested around 2 a.m. Friday. He remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $5,000.
Pensacola Police officer Jeffry Cain was dispatched to the area of Palafox and Romana streets after a citizen’s complaint about young children being left unsupervised in the area. Cain found one of the boys sleeping inside an unlocked car on the northeast corner of Palafox and Romana. The child told Cain he had been with Chatwood and when he told him he was tired, Chatwood suggested he sleep in the vehicle.
Cain found Chatwood a short time later in Hopjacks, 10 S. Palafox St. Another 10-yearold male was with him in the business.
Chatwood, who police said had been drinking, told Cain he wanted to take the 10-year-old boys to New York Nicks to play pool with him but he left that location because the kitchen had closed. He then decided to go to Hopjacks, and when one of the boys told him he was tired, Chatwood told him to sleep in the vehicle and lock the doors.
He then took the other boy into Hopjacks and began drinking.
The two boys were placed in protective custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families and Chatwood was taken to the Escambia County Jail.
Comments
36 Responses to “Police: Boy, 10, Left In Car While Man Goes Drinking”
I am very proud of my nephew. In no way did this young boy need to be left unattended in the car.
So what about the 10year old children at home by theirselves @2 am? What then.
@Michael..I think soft would have been not arresting him.
Jeff ,better keep an eye on Mr. Michael. He is clearly up to no good!
I have the honor of being Jeff’s Dad and I can assure you he is a very reasonable person and police officer, but when it comes to the welfare of children and the elderly, criminals beware. I’m proud of you son for keeping the streets safe. If any one else on here disagrees with what you did, lock them up too.
And the father of the year award goes toooo…..This Guy! What possible reason justifies having pre-teen children out til early morning hours asleep in unlocked cars downtown while the dad is drinking? I betcha Pizza Hut and a 6-pack wouldve been alot cheaper than Hopjacks and bail money….jus sayin.
Great job to the officer! you men and women do so much for our town to keep our families safe. our hats go off to you!!! as for the father get some help and stay away from children until you do so.
you no better than that take him home first
I would say my Nephew did the right thing……When in doubt err on the side of the kids at all times. Proud of you Jeff. You followed the law and you also did what I any prudent officer would do. If I had left my child in a car like that and was out drinking and my wife found out what I had done there would be no trial……..there would be a funeral.
Wow. You folks have really improved my disposition. There is so much anti law enforcement rhetoric on the internet nowadays, it is good to see that some Pensacola citizens still recognize the value of police. Thank you!
michael—-what is wrong with you?!!!!!!! Did you not read this article You need to really read it again please read what this wonderful officer wrote. He was concerned about these children. The child was 10. It was 2 am. The door was unlocked in the middle of downtown Pensacola night just down the street from bedlams. It isn’t unusual for us to have shots fired around that area on bedlam nights. There was heavy foot traffic around the area. anyone could have kidnapped the child or worse.
yes hopjacks is a restaurant, but even management asked him to leave because you don’t bring a 10 year old into a bar at 2am
he had no designated driver. should I go on…?
I took this job for the victims without voices and I stand by my decision
Please re read if you do not think that this was handled the correct way something is very wrong and I really hope you do not have children or are responsible for anyone elses children. Officer Cain I am very proud to have you protecting our community.Great Job!
I would like to thank the concerned citizen that was responsible enough to call the police in the first place. How many people would have walked right by and minded their own business? I support Officer Cain’s decision in this situation. If this “father” was drinking, he had no business driving, with or without kids in the car. Thankfully, Officer Cain provided all three a safe ride so that EMT’s didn’t have to pick up the pieces of shattered lives along the roadside later. My husband is a retired law enforcement officer and he had to make many difficult decisions that involved families and children. None of them were made easily or without support from supervising officers, and many times, he was the OIC. As the grandmother of six, ages 5-14 years old, I cannot imagine leaving any of them anywhere out of my sight late at night, unless they’re tucked safely in their own beds down the hall. Special outings should be done during reasonable hours, not 2:00 A.M. IMO, Hopjack’s should have made that phone call or insisted that Mr. Chatwood take his boys home long before 2:00 A.M. So glad those two boys are safe this morning.
KUDOS to Officer Cain, thank you sir for doing your job!!!!!!! My question is, where was the mother to these children? I have read all of the comments made here and not one of them says anything about the mother. I have no problem with a father wanting to spend time with his sons or with a grown man wanting to go drinking BUT DO NOT MIX THE TWO. There are to many other things that he could have done with his sons during reasonable hours that did not involve him drinking and having those boys out at such an ungodly hour. In no way does this mans arrest OR his bad decision mean that he doesn’t love his sons and I do not feel that Officer Cain even insinuated that in his post. Officer Cain had to intervene on behalf of those 10 year old CHILDREN, and OBVIOUSLY Mr. Chatwood needs some parenting classes, maybe he’ll get those from the courts…….AGAIN, THANK YOU OFFICER CAIN FOR CARING ABOUT THE CHILDREN!
To John….If your kids are tired and need to lie down you take them home. You do not put one in a car alone downtown and take the other one into the bar. Hopjacks at night is not a place for kids. Poor parenting skills and selfish behaviour.
Educate yourself and the forum members…. visit Hopjacks late at night and let us know what activates they have for children.
I appreciate the generally positive response. I am fortunate enough to work for a great department with supervisors that support me. It is never an easy decision to divide families. To answer John, I am certainly not suggesting that Mr. Chatwood did not love his children. There could be a myriad of factors that influenced his decision.
John, you suggested that maybe he wanted to do something special for his boys. I don’t have a problem with someone wanting to plan a special event and spend time with his or her children. However, you have to question the sincerity of that motivation when the planned event doesn’t seem to have the best interest of the kids at heart. I get that the kids enjoy playing pool. However, there are plenty of more appropriate places that are cheaper (since you mentioned money), and operate at hours more appropriate for children.
Again, I’m not suggesting that he is a bad man, nor am I judging his character. Addiction can be a terrible black malady that creeps into a good man’s bones and drive him to shameful deeds. However, it is my job to weigh those deeds and protect those children.
obviously, my driving motivation was to protect those kids and show Mr. Chatwood that it could have been much worse so that he could get the help he needs. He has two beautiful boys and something tragic could have befallen them.
And I’ll bet the idiot planned on driving home drunk with the kid in the car, too. Keep that loser in jail!
What if the man (the Father of these two boys) had worked and earned some extra money and wanted to do something special for his sons, I do not condone having children downtown Pensacola anytime , much less at night, even our police are scared to go down there.
All of you can sit in the comfort of your homes with electricity , and internet and try and convict this man of what He has been accused of. None of you know the love these boys have for their father, nor the love this man has for his children, You know not everyone lives with electricity , water and food, some people do the best they can, with what they have.
Officer Cain, Thank you for being an officer. Thank you for having compassion on our city. I do not know how the altercation with Mr. Chatwood went down, nor how inebriated he was( i noticed there were no intoxication charges nor no disorderly nor public drunkenness charges) , Nor do I know what the children said as you ripped them away from the father that they love so much. I also do not need to hear you defend yourself on a news post, These two 10 year olds have voices and I am sure you heard some of their voices that night.
I know it is really hard for some of you to understand this but….where would you take your boys for food and fun at 1 am in the morning? Poor choices destroy lives , May it never happen to any of you.
Sounds like he had plans to go drinking and was “stuck” with the kids. Only looked for place with restaurant so they could enter. No telling how much he drank before he made it to this place. Thank God they are ok, and for the officer for stepping in!
Officer Cain, from the comments here, and my thoughts, you did EXACTLY the Right Thing. Sir, you did us all a great service by rescuing these children from great harm. Thank You….
Michael, your failure to recognize that this man was out drinking at 2am with 2 young children who should have been home in bed. The fact that the guy put drinking ahead of the safety and overall well being of the two children speaks volumes. This was at least neglect; you do not leave children in a car at 2am and especially given the fact he couldn’t see them. Anything could have happened to those little boys. Your failure to see the potentialy deadly situation those boys were put into for the sake of drinking shows how “off” your judgement is. Kudos to the officer who used great judgement in rescuing these boys from this very bad situation.
Like everyone else I am to wondering why he had the boys, are they his kids?
Thumbs up for you Officer Cain. You are absolutely right!
Those boys had no business out at 2am while the only adult is drinking in a bar.
Even though Hopjacks serves food..it is also a BAR. A child should never be left alone in a car, especially at 2am.
eeyore is correct. The logic of alcoholics is seriously flawed. Booze is the priority not the children.
Well done, Officer Cain. You can patrol my neighborhood anytime.
Jeffry cain- I do not blame you one bit.
Not the least bit excessive. This may be the wake-up call this man needs.
This was my case. No I don’t think my decision to make an arrest was excessive. The child was 10. It was 2 am. The door was unlocked in the middle of downtown Pensacola night just down the street from bedlams. It isn’t unusual for us to have shots fired around that area on bedlam nights. There was heavy foot traffic around the area. anyone could have kidnapped the child or worse.
yes hopjacks is a restaurant, but even management asked him to leave because you don’t bring a 10 year old into a bar at 2am
he had no designated driver. should I go on…?
I took this job for the victims without voices and I stand by my decision.
Hmm, I missed the 2am part, yeah I’m wrong on that, what an idiot..
What if….
,,,,,no one had intervened?
…..this man would have continued drinking?
…..this man got behind the wheel with these two kids?
Could be an entirely different story we just read….
my question: is this man the father of these two boys? the article does not say that he is their father.
Yes, Michael you may be the only one that thinks this is too excessive.
…the logic of alcoholics…wondering what was more impotant to them…their alcohol or their kids…hmmm…i will never understand them…they will any and every excuse to go drinking…seems like they HAVE to drink in order to have a good time…sounds like a dependency issue to me…good for the officer to arrest the man…maybe he will finally have to decide what exactly is his priority in life…
It was 2am!! Those children should have been at home in bed, not asleep in a car in downtown Pensacola. Who in their right mind has a child out that late? And I’ll add that many things could happen to a child with the grown up being “right around the corner”. Seriously? Please do not condone this type of behavior.
at 2 AM and with a tired 10 year old he should pick up drive through and take the children home. A child should never be left in a car unattended NEVER.
That’s not soft that’s just the way it is.
Does anyone else find it unusual that this guy had 2 ten year-olds out at 2 am? Something seems really off.
@Micheal…OMG…r u crazy or r u 2 one of those irresponsible parents? What parent or human being would leave a 10 yr old, at 2am, in a locked or unlocked car. U really just announced to the public how sick your reasoning ability is. I certainly hope that u r NEVER left to care for a child!
@Michael,
You might want to read the article again sir. It clearly states that the police officer located the boy inside an UNLOCKED car. I understand that the father told the child to lock the car, but obviously the child did not listen. Which, to me, proves that this particular child is not responsible enough to have been left unsupervised at this time of night.
He was right around the corner. The kid was tired and he locked the car. If the guy was getting slammed at the bar maybe I’d have an issue with this. Am I the only one here that thinks this is a little excessive by arresting him. I’m Hopjacks is also a restaurant…. We’ve become such a soft society.
Gotta feel for the kids. They deserve better.