Georgia mother charged after viral video showed her driving while 12-year-old son was sitting in the trunk of her car
A mother in Georgia was charged after a video of her young teenage son sitting in the trunk of a moving car went viral.
Diana Denise Shaffer, 36, of Duluth, was charged with reckless endangerment and seat belt violation after the video showed her 12-year-old son riding in the trunk of a gray Dodge sedan.
The child appeared to be sitting next to a large object.
Police later said in a news release that the item in question was a baby crib that Shaffer purchased through an advertisement on the online marketplace.
Police said the child had been in the trunk to help stabilize the object.
Diana Denise Shaffer, 36, of Duluth, was charged with reckless endangerment and seat belt violation
The mother was booked into the Gwinnett County Jail on Tuesday. Her son was placed in the temporary custody of a relative until his mother was released Wednesday morning.
Officers said someone reported the video to police on Sunday.
On Monday, they said the surveillance video tool Flock Safety System caught the car driving around Duluth.
A detective was then able to identify the registered owner of the vehicle and meet her at her home the next day.
It’s unclear why Shaffer thought it was a good or safe idea to let her son ride in her trunk like that.
The video that eventually got her arrested appears to have been taken by a fellow driver, who was shocked by what they saw along the way.
Online, the video has been viewed at least hundreds of thousands of times and has generated countless reactions to the apparently bizarre parenting on display here.
One Instagram user commented on the video when it was posted to an account called ATLSCOPE wrote: ‘I’m calling CPS and the police, I have the tag #.’
While it is unclear whether that user’s report is the one that alerted authorities to the incident, police did say it was someone who saw the video that drew police attention.
Police eventually determined that the child had been in the trunk to help stabilize a baby crib that his mother had purchased
Shaffermother was booked into the Gwinnett County Jail on Tuesday. Her son was placed under the temporary custody of a relative until his mother bonded
Another viewer wrote directly to Shaffer: “Like what possessed your mind to think this was okay, like who TF DOES THAT. “I’m sorry I got mad because I AM SOMEONE’S MOM… Whoever this is doesn’t need kids and this is a great example of why.”
‘This really isn’t funny. This is not okay. That baby’s safety is 100% at risk, and I would worry about their family life. I really hope they are safe,” wrote another concerned viewer.
A fourth person lashed out at the person who shot the video, arguing that they could have intervened: “Instead of recording him, block him from getting the kid out of the trunk or something, but by recording him you’ll make just as much of a mess as the driver. THAT’S MY OPINION.’