Dad arrested for leaving son at McDonald's

Brett Singer — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

See if you can follow this: Dave Lieber, a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, got into an argument with his 11 year old son over breakfast at McDonald's (perhaps the boy ate his McGriddle?). Lieber got so angry with the boy that he drove away, leaving him in the parking lot, which was "a few blocks" from their home. He then thought better of it and came back to pick him up a few minutes later, only to find that the police had been called. No charges were filed, and Lieber wrote about the incident in his August 15th column. He acknowledged that he had "made a stupid and quite serious mistake…I could have exposed my son to grave danger. I do know that. But in the moment of anger, I didn’t think clearly." He called The Parenting Center in Fort Worth, a nonprofit that offers counseling to local families. They gave him some good advice in case this situation ever happens again, like "don't take it personally when fighting with your child," that sort of thing.

HOWEVER, two weeks later, after "additional investigation", he was arrested on charges of "child abandonment with intent to return and child abandonment/endangering a child." Lieber is free on relatively modest $4,000 bail, but is still charged with two felonies.

There's an interesting line in his August 15th column: "back in the 1960s, if my parents had told me to 'walk home by yourself' when I misbehaved, no one would have thought twice…But what flew years ago doesn’t fly today."

I can't imagine doing something like this, and only partly because we don't eat at McDonald's. The felony charges seem extreme, however. When I was 11, I could walk to the store to buy comic books (and other things), and I lived in the Bronx. Isn't this the same thing? Or should intent –Lieber left his son in the parking lot out of anger – be a factor? Has anyone out there ever had an experience like this?

(Note: the image is from Dave Lieber's website, YankeeCowboy.com. That's a picture of him.)

Sources: Statesman.com, Star-Telegram

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