Police confirm officer gave car keys to DUI suspect

[NIGHTB1022]

Now, how DENSE can someone be? Read what happened below and how it ended up costing a 5 year old little boy his life because of a Mother and a COP'S stupidity! I read things like this and it makes me want to just go beat the parent, but this time a police department failed to protect this kid as well!

Police confirm officer gave car keys to DUI suspect:



May 10, 2010 (STEGER, Ill.) (WLS) -- Police say a driver had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit when he crashed into a tree, killing a 5-year-old boy in south suburban Steger.


Cecil R. Conner has been charged with felony DUI and reckless homicide in the crash at West 34th and Carpenter streets at 3:15 a.m. Monday. He struck several trees, police said, before the vehicle came to rest.


Conner was not hurt, but Michael Langford, 5, died instantly.
The child was riding in a booster seat, police said, but it isn't clear if he was strapped in. Police said Langford is the son of Conner's girlfriend, Kathie Lafond.


"The only question is, 'Why is he here?' Whenever anybody gets killed in a situation like that, it's tragic. And our condolences go out to the family of the child. And it's alcohol," said Chief Richard Stultz, Steger Police Dept.


According to a family friend, Conner had been drinking at a friend's house when the Lafond came to pick him up with the boy. They left that friend's home around 2 a.m., at which point Lafond was pulled over by Chicago Heights police and arrested for driving without a license. At that time, the friend said police gave the keys over to Conner.



Chicago Heights police confirm the boy's mother was taken into custody. Police said Conner was supposed to follow the squad car to the station to post bond, which did not happen. Now an investigation is underway to see why the officer gave an allegedly drunk Conner the keys.


Friends say Lafond called them to check on the child.


As of 11 a.m., Chief Stultz said Conner remains passed out at in the lockup and is not coherent enough to give a statement. He does not know the boy is dead, Chief Stultz said.


Conner is expected to be in bond court Tuesday at the earliest.
(Copyright ©2010 WLS-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

[kval07]

Oh boy...

[NIGHTB1022]

Oh boy...

I'm sayin....

[CW&M Mom]

that is just awful.

[billig]

Between 2 am and 3:15 is when he got drunk.
I betcha a buck that's what the officer will say.
Too much time passed between when the officer let him go and until the fatal accident.

[billig]

And when they arrested the mother, is it normal to let a minor go in the custody of a 'boyfriend'? Wouldn't they take the child to social services?