Horrifying bodycam footage shows the moment a Georgia mother was arrested for allowing her 10-year-old son to walk into a small town.
Brittany Patterson, 41, was captured on police bodycam footage being handcuffed and taken into custody on Oct. 30 after leaving her son Soren home alone.
Police can be heard informing Patterson that she was being arrested for “child endangerment” while standing in the doorway of her family’s home.
“And how did I recklessly endanger my child?” she asked, before one of the officers gestured and told her to “turn around.”
“We’re not talking about it,” the officer added, before placing his hand on her arm, turning her around so her back was to them, and handcuffing her.
The footage shows Patterson being walked to the police cars in her driveway and being put in the back with her hands still in cuffs.
Patterson was charged with reckless endangerment and taken into custody, where her fingerprints and mug shot were taken.
The mother had left her home to take one of her older children to the doctor, while Soren, who is 11 years old but was 10 years old at the time, stayed home.
Brittany Patterson, 41, was captured on police bodycam footage being handcuffed and taken into custody on October 30 after leaving her son Soren home alone
According to the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office, Soren had walked less than a mile into town looking for the local Dollar General store. The young boy was asked by a woman if he was okay as he walked down the road and although he said he was okay, she called the police
According to the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office, Soren had walked less than a mile into town to reach the local Dollar General store, ABC News reported.
The young boy was asked by a woman if he was okay as he walked down the road and although he said he was okay, she called the police.
Authorities found him alone after receiving the call. He was then taken home unharmed, before they returned hours later to arrest Patterson.
The warrant alleged that she “willfully and knowingly endangered the physical safety of her young son.”
After her arrest, Patterson told ABC, “I was in shock, surprise, disbelief, and couldn’t really understand what was going on or why.
“They told me to put my hands behind my back and then I had to ask to say goodbye to my children.”
Patterson’s community rallied around her since she was forced to post $500 bail, and donations worth nearly $54,000 flowed into a GoFundMe for her legal defense.
The outraged mother vowed to fight the charges, despite the fact that authorities had offered to conditionally withdraw them.
The warrant alleged that she “willfully and knowingly endangered the physical safety of her young son.” She faces a $1,000 fine and one year in prison.
In the footage, police informed Patterson that she was being arrested for “child endangerment” as she stood in the doorway of her family’s home. “And how did I recklessly endanger my child?” she asked, before one of the officers gestured and told her to “turn around.”
The day after her arrest, a case manager from the Department of Family and Children Services came to her home for a home visit and even interviewed Patterson’s oldest son at his school.
The case manager told Patterson that everything seemed fine, but a few days later the Department of Family and Children Services presented her with a “safety plan” for her to sign.
It would require her to delegate a “safety person” as a “knowing participant and guardian” to watch over the children whenever she leaves the house.
The plan would also require Patterson to download an app on Soren’s cell phone to monitor his location – something she has refused to do.
“I just felt like I couldn’t sign that and agree that there was something unsafe about my house or something unsafe about my parents’ decisions, and I just don’t believe that,” she told ABC News .
“And how did I recklessly endanger my child?” she asked, before one of the officers gestured and told her to “turn around.” “We’re not talking about it,” the officer added, before placing his hand on her arm, turning her around so her back was to them, and handcuffing her.
‘This isn’t right. I didn’t do anything wrong. “I’m going to fight for that,” she said NBC News.
Attorney David DeLugas, head of ParentsUSA — a nonprofit that provides pro bono legal assistance to parents wrongly arrested and prosecuted for child neglect — has taken up her case.
‘Should all parents put GPS on their child?’ he said. ‘The parents can decide for their children, unless it is unreasonably dangerous.’
An assistant district attorney has since told DeLugas that if Patterson signed the safety plan, the criminal charges against her would be dropped.
But DeLugas responded by saying that if Patterson were forced to sign a safety plan just because her son walked somewhere without her knowing his exact location, he wouldn’t be able to visit friends or have any independence.
Attorney David DeLugas said, “Should all parents put GPS on their child? The parents can decide for their children, unless it is unreasonably dangerous’
Still, the assistant district attorney continued to insist that Soren had been in danger and therefore a safety plan was necessary.
She now faces a reckless endangerment charge, a $1,000 fine and a year in jail.