Boy's Call Leads To Mom's DUI Arrest

8-Year-Old, Sister Were In Car When He Told 911 His Mom Had Been Drinking

(CBS/AP)  An 8-year-old boy riding in a car with his mother and little sister called 911 at least twice to report that his mother had been drinking and was driving in the wrong direction.

Authorities in Vancouver, Wash., say the call led to the woman's arrest on drunken driving and other charges.

Paulette Spears, 33, was arrested Saturday after she drove to a fire station and said she had a medical problem.

Guided by her son's description of what he could see from the car, as well as by global positioning technology to track the phone calls, deputies arrived at the station less than a minute later.

Authorities said that at one point, Spears took the cell phone from the boy, told the dispatcher not to worry, and hung up. They say she also bit the boy's hand and grabbed the phone from him.

At first, tapes show, the 911 dispatcher asked the boy to put his mother on the phone, but the woman ended the call instead. The dispatcher called back, and the boy's mother hung up again.

Then the boy called 911 again, but told the dispatcher his mother was "jabbing" him with her hands, insisting he give her the phone.

The boy and his sister were placed with an aunt.

Spears was jailed for investigation of drunken driving, two counts of reckless endangerment, and assault of a child.

Records show she has at least one conviction for drunken driving.

On The Early Show Tuesday, Dr. Jeff Gardere, a clinical psychologist, told co-anchor Hannah Storm the boy is "wise beyond his years. As a psychologist, it speaks to me in that there may have been other instances in the home, especially since this mother, we found out, has already had a previous drunken driving conviction. So, maybe he has been exposed to situations that we don't want our young kids to be exposed to so early in their lives.

"The other thing is that the dispatcher was excellent here. Throughout these calls, the dispatcher was calm, kept him talking, so even though this kid knew that his life and those in the car were in danger, she also kept him focused on the task, and that's the job of dispatcher. That's what it should be."

But the boy faces a tough road, Gardere added, saying he faces an "emotional dilemma. ... He's going to be in a situation where people attribute what he did, his heroic actions, as also leading his mom to jail, so he's going to feel a lot of that guilt.

"I think this kid's going to have some PTSD, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, sadness, flashbacks, paranoia, so he's going to have some issues, and a lot of issues of trust with his mom. ... It's going to be a real, real issue with maturation and those issues. He'll need a lot of therapy. And the mom needs help, too, of course."

[toolmangler-2009]

Good they took her off the streets but for how long.

Posted by MichelleM99 at 09:32 PM : Oct 23, 2007


If they got her attention then it was long enough.

[purplegirl64]

This woman used to come into my business that is out of Washington state. I did a double take when I heard her name on the news. She recently moved back to Seattle area. It is weird because the type of business I own, women usually talk about their kids and she never did. Talked a lot about her husband and his demanding job that caused them to move alot. Her booking photo is scary because that is how she looked half the time she came in the store. I would have never known she was drunk half the time. Maybe this will be her wake up call to get help for the sake of her children. The psychologist is right that this child has probably seen this behavior pattern several times before and that is why he called it in.

[marthaanne3]

I object to the instant psychoanalysis of the child - what he will face, how much therapy he will need. Dr. Gardere has never met this child and has no idea of the child''s personality, history, complexity, and what he might or might NOT face and how. Dr. Gardere presented his analysis as fact, not speculation. It is his right to have these opinions, but CBS erred in presenting this very public analysis as serious journalism. It is not fair to this particular child to speculate, and the analysis should have been omitted.

[michellem99-2009]

Good they took her off the streets but for how long.

[kailumego1]

What''s unfortunate this woman''s misguided and in denial family will probably chastise this boy for his heroism, claiming he shouldn''t have called the police, but one of them...

This woman''s behavior, I''m willing to bet, has been a long drawn out saga of drunken disorderliness and neglect, which her family was full aware, but did nothing....

[mistermoby]

dxe44chk
You hit the nose right on the head..want is going to happen now..?? It is big news now but what is going to happen next???

[michellem99-2009]

THIS IS EVERY BODY''S HAVR YER SAY. Some folks come from a bad home growing up and now as adult want to help,,

[michellem99-2009]

I was raised not to tattle growing up. What is a kid to do faced with a drunk Mum. What about the Dad. The car keys don''t belong in the hands of a drunk who will drive drunk.

[urushje]

OK, I GET THIS NOW, SOME OF YOU OUT THERE JUST WANT TO BASH WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY. SORRY I EVER POSTED MY COMMENT, AND AS FAR AS MY MOTIVES, IT JUST HIT HOME FOR ME! I WOULD HAVE GIVEN ANYTHING FOR SOMEONE, ANYONE TO HELP ME OUT OF THE SITUATION I LIVED IN. SO THIS DOES NOT NEED TO BLOWN OUT OF CONTEXT ANYMORE. THAT''S THE STORY AND WHY I WANTED TO HELP.

[mswolfestock]

What a brave, smart young man. I''m really sorry that he had to use his intelligence for such a terrible, scary problem. I hope he gets all the help he needs to get on with his life. The "mother" does not deserve to have kids - she needs to go to detox and have her tubes tied.