Special2bme
March 16th, 2009, 10:13 AM
GALLUP — Gallup Police arrested a 36-year-old man Thursday who allegedly punched his 10-year-old son inside a restaurant full of people.
Vernon Parker, 36, of Chambers, Ariz., was arrested about 8:15 p.m. inside McDonald’s on Gallup’s north side after witnesses told police they’d seen him punch his son, according to the probable cause statement filed at magistrate court and signed by Gallup Police Officer Andy Yearly.
Yearly wrote that the boy was crying, holding an ice-pack against his swollen right cheek when police arrived at McDonald’s about 7:55 p.m. Parker had already fled. The boy told Yearly that his dad punched him and “that his father is mean to him all the time.”
At least one adult witness described watching Parker hit the boy in the face with a closed fist. Another witness told Yearly she was having dinner with her family when she heard a child crying. She turned to see Parker shove his son into a booth. She watched as the boy in the booth continued to cry and Parker went to place an order. Soon Parker came back and told the boy “Let’s go! You (expletive) things up,” according to the witness.
Police Officer Shane Bennett found Parker outside the restaurant, arrested him and booked him at Gallup McKinley Adult Detention Center on one count of child abuse, a third-degree felony. Parker is being held on $25,000 cash-only bond.
Police brought the boy to Christian Child Care, a temporary shelter for abused or neglected children, where staff told police the boy had been there twice before.
http://www.gallupindependent.com/2009/03March/031409witnesses.html
Vernon Parker, 36, of Chambers, Ariz., was arrested about 8:15 p.m. inside McDonald’s on Gallup’s north side after witnesses told police they’d seen him punch his son, according to the probable cause statement filed at magistrate court and signed by Gallup Police Officer Andy Yearly.
Yearly wrote that the boy was crying, holding an ice-pack against his swollen right cheek when police arrived at McDonald’s about 7:55 p.m. Parker had already fled. The boy told Yearly that his dad punched him and “that his father is mean to him all the time.”
At least one adult witness described watching Parker hit the boy in the face with a closed fist. Another witness told Yearly she was having dinner with her family when she heard a child crying. She turned to see Parker shove his son into a booth. She watched as the boy in the booth continued to cry and Parker went to place an order. Soon Parker came back and told the boy “Let’s go! You (expletive) things up,” according to the witness.
Police Officer Shane Bennett found Parker outside the restaurant, arrested him and booked him at Gallup McKinley Adult Detention Center on one count of child abuse, a third-degree felony. Parker is being held on $25,000 cash-only bond.
Police brought the boy to Christian Child Care, a temporary shelter for abused or neglected children, where staff told police the boy had been there twice before.
http://www.gallupindependent.com/2009/03March/031409witnesses.html