Dixon Police DepartmentWith the summer months rolling in and the temperature creeping up, you might be tempted to buy a paddling pool to keep cool.
After all, there’s surely nothing better than a nice relaxing dip in cold water on a hot summer’s day – even if it is in your back garden and not in some exotic country.
What you definitely shouldn’t do is put that paddling pool on top of your car and use your own children to hold it down on the drive home. Yet that’s allegedly what one woman in Illinois did recently.
PixabayJennifer A. Janus Yeager, 49, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon (July 9) after police received a complaint from a concerned person who had seen a car driving with two children on its roof.
According to a Facebook post by the Dixon Police Department, an Audi was driving north on the Peoria Avenue Bridge with children inside a paddling pool on its roof.
Officers searched the area and found the Audi driving westbound on Illinois Route 2 just after 3pm, confirming two children were indeed sat inside a blue inflatable pool on the roof of the vehicle.
Endangering the Health or Life of a Child Arrest Press Release:The Dixon Police Department announces the arrest of…
Posted by Dixon, Illinois Police Department on Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Police officers stopped the car and approached Yeager, and discovered the mum had driven into town to inflate the pool at a friend’s house before taking it home.
Then, when the pool wouldn’t fit in her car, she allegedly had her two young daughters ride inside of the empty pool to hold it down on their drive home.
The mum was arrested for two counts of Endangering the Health or Life of a Child and two counts of Reckless Conduct. Yeager was also cited for failure to secure a passenger of the age of eight and under the age of 16.
The 49-year-old was then taken to the Dixon Police Department where she was processed and released after posting bond.
Dixon Police DepartmentThe Facebook post soon went viral, with many sharing their disbelief that such a situation could have unfolded.
One person wrote, ‘PLEASE somebody tell me this is a joke… I refuse to believe an actual mother would think this was a good idea,’ while another simply said: ‘This is a story these kid’s are going to be telling for the rest of their lives.’
The police department reiterated that all charges are merely an allegation at this moment in time, and Yeager is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).