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Mar 20, 2008 12:15 pm US/Eastern
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Mom Arrested For Leaving Child In Car Sues Police
Chicago Woman Was Out Of Car For 3 1/2 Minutes, Says She Was Subjected To 'False Arrest'
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
A woman arrested for leaving her 2-year-old daughter in her car within sight while dropping off money for charity is now suing the officers who arrested her.
CBS station WBBM-TV in Chicago reports Ellen "Treffly" Coyne insists it's all about closure, not cash, in a civil rights lawsuit filed Thursday against Crestwood police. The suit alleges false arrest and malicious prosecution.
"It really would be great if they could come forward and apologize to my kids," she said. "They were scared to death."
Coyne was arrested on Dec. 8 for leaving her 2-year-old daughter, Phoebe, asleep in her car seat while she and her other daughters went to drop $8 in change into a Salvation Army kettle less than 40 feet away in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
But when Coyne returned to her car, she was arrested.
Crestwood police have defended the officer involved, and insist Coyne made the situation worse, refusing to identify the child in the car. Chief Timothy Sulikowski says his officer enforced the law, acting in the best interest of the child.
But surveillance video outside the Crestwood Wal-Mart showed Coyne was out of the car just 3 1/2 minutes.
Coyne was charged with child endangerment. But the kids say, the cops then did what they accused their mom of doing: left them unattended for an hour inside the Wal-Mart.
"When we were in there, we sat there forever and there was no one except one of the employees that sat by the door," said Coyne's daughter Sierra Janecyk, 9.
Coyne's husband says Crestwood must pay.
"They put a price tag on saying sorry," Tim Janecyk said. "You ask them what that price tag is and I hope that price is met."
There is no response as yet from Crestwood's police chief or mayor.
Coyne was about to go to trial when the Cook County State's Attorney's office decided to drop charges against her last week.
Earlier this week, word surfaced that the arresting officer, Forrest Wondolowski, might not have been authorized to be on the street in the first place.
When he is not working as a Crestwood police officer, Wondolowski is a City of Chicago machinist, and has been disabled since 2004. But Chicago officials say when he filled out his dual employment form he told them he'd be on desk duty while working as a Crestwood police officer.
They wouldn't go on camera Tuesday but spokesperson Eileen Joyce told WBBM: "We've never had an employee put false information on a dual employment form. We're investigating whether what he wrote on his form was not true."
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