Motherhood Criminalized

October 24, 2009 permalink

Pittsburgh mother Lynette Brown left her baby Myonna Mollett (named in other stories) in a stroller while she went into a convenience store. The stroller was not properly secured and rolled out into a street, stopping traffic. In times past, passers-by would have grabbed the stroller and returned it to the mother. Maybe one would have chewed her out for her negligence. Not now. Lynette Brown has been arrested. She has lost custody of her baby and and faces charges of disorderly conduct.

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Russell Crowe Movie Scene Stalled By Runaway Stroller

Pittsburgh Officer Notices Baby Buggy While Closing Down Street

POSTED: 2:15 pm EDT October 23, 2009, UPDATED: 6:52 pm EDT October 23, 2009

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh police officer who arrested a North Side woman after a stroller with her baby in it rolled into Chestnut Street said he was in the area because of a movie shoot.

Earlier this month, 27-year-old Lynnette Brown was arrested in Spring Garden after she went into a store, allegedly leaving her child in a stroller outside.

Lynette Brown

In the criminal complaint, Officer Anthony Scarpine said he saw the stroller rolling across the street after hearing a vehicle screeching nearby. He said cars in both directions on Chestnut had to stop for the stroller as it crossed from one side of the road to the other.

After the officer began to investigate, Brown exited a nearby store and approached the stroller.

The officer reported that Brown said to him, "That's my baby. What are you doing with my baby?"

Scarpine reported that he explained what he was doing, and he said that Brown told him she wasn't in the store very long, at which point she was placed under arrest.

The police officer was in the area because he had to shut down traffic for a chase scene in Russell Crowe's new movie, and they had to hold up the start of a scene while Brown was arrested, according to the complaint.

At Brown's preliminary hearing Friday, charges of endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment were dropped. She will only face a summary citation for disorderly conduct.

The judge also said Brown must go to parenting classes and come back to court in December.

Brown's daughter is in the custody of relatives and will have her first birthday in five days.

"She's pretty resilient, she's had no prior criminal record, and she wants to get this behind her, so that's what we want to do," said Brown's lawyer, Edward Hunkele.

Source: WTAE Pittsburgh