OZAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. -- An Ozaukee County mom has been charged with second degree recklessly endangering safety after she allegedly had her 9-year-old son ride on top of her minivan to hold down a plastic pool.
According to the criminal complaint, it happened around 3 p.m. on Saturday, September 9, 2017 when officers responded to reports of a child riding on top of a minivan.
A 911 caller followed the mother - Amber Schmunk, 28, of Fredonia - until she pulled over and took the child and pool off the roof. The mother then continued driving down the road and pulled into her sister’s house where police caught up with her.
Schmunk told police picked up the pool at a residence but did not have enough room inside the minivan. She said she “decided to put the pool on top of the minivan, but had no way to strap it down, so she had her child climb on the roof and hold it down while she drove.”
Schmunk admitted to police she had her oldest son ride on top of the minivan, “but only for a short time, maybe 20-30 seconds.”
Schmunk later stated it was safe because she used a strap to tie the child down on top of the pool.
She also told the officer that she believed it was “ok” as her father let her do things like that when she was that age.
Schmunk will be back in court on November 14. If convicted, she faces up to ten years in prison and up to a $25,000 fine.
