Yvette Branch Can't Walk On Water, Neither Can Her Child

[Komak]

MT. CLEMENS, Mich. -- A Virginia mother was arraigned on Monday on a child abuse charge after the woman, who was drunk, and her 22-month-old child were pulled from the Clinton River in downtown Mt. Clemens.

Yvette Branch, 43, was charged with one count of second-degree child abuse, which is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison.

Police said they suspect Branch was walking along the river with her toddler, who was in a stroller, when she lost her balance and fell in.

A German exchange student told police he saw commotion by the gazebo at about 5:30 p.m. Monday and realized the woman and the stroller carrying the baby fell in.

Nicolas Eckhoff jumped in the frigid waters and pulled the child from the stroller and out of the water. Eckhoff was with a Mt. Clemens woman who laid down on the wall to reach for the mother.

The toddler was treated at Mt. Clemens Regional Medical Center, and then turned over to the county's child protective services for foster care placement, said police.

Preliminary breath tests revealed Branch had a blood-alcohol level of 0.28% -- more than three times the drunken driving limit in Michigan of .08.

Police said they were not sure where the woman was drinking prior to going to the riverbank with her child. But her story did not seem to match, said police.

Branch is being lodged at the Macomb County Jail on a $7,500 bond.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/17821000/detail.html

According to the sheriff investigating:

"Her story didn't match up with what happened at the scene," he said. "We felt there was some type of neglect and she didn't protect her child."

The pair was pulled from the river by a 21-year-old Ferndale man. The man was in the area with a 49-year-old Mt. Clemens woman, who lay down on a wall to reach for the mother and child, Wickersham said.

He declined to release the names of the witnesses, including a 22-year-old Rochester woman, who told authorities that the mother was not screaming for help after she went into the water.

http://www.freep.com/article/2008102...0380/1006/NEWS

[malq]

I would like to see the scene where a Mom decided to stroll by the river with kid in stroller.
The stroller dumps and kid falls in river. Sounds farfetched to me even if she was shithoused. Jees!

[Dakota Valkyrie]

.28 and still walking... a vampire drinking her blood would pass out.

Of course her story doesn't match up! She probably doesn't remember falling in the water much less anything else.

[RockRGrl]

Drunken Idiot! Yeah the first place I think to take my kids after drinking A TON is a walk near the river. For the LOVE OF GOD get a fucking brain!

[prettyuglyish]

I'd been wondering what became of Cha-ka. Another childhood actor gone bad...

[ImmortalOne]

... I live 5 minutes from this location... litterally.... And the walk they are talking by the gazebo along the river has no railings or safety precautions. Boats dock right at the edge of the path. I have almost fell in myself a few years ago...

[RockRGrl]

... I live 5 minutes from this location... litterally.... And the walk they are talking by the gazebo along the river has no railings or safety precautions. Boats dock right at the edge of the path. I have almost fell in myself a few years ago...

Were you drinking? LOL

[crickett]

Dumb Bitch of the Day Award....

[ImmortalOne]

Were you drinking? LOL

Nope, maybe if I had been... lol more like just goofing around. But yeah, there are no guard rails or anything. During the 4th of July fireworks at this location they have to put up police retainers to keep people away from the water.

[Just my luck sucks]

Grandpa always told me, "Ya gotta hold yer chin just right, ifin' ya plan on walkin' on water."

[Peeperann]

Why would anyone get that shit faced with their child around anyway? And then to take a walk by the river?? Maybe she thought the fresh air would clear her head?

Holy crow, you just don't drink like that when you're with your child!!!!!

[BluLobster]

I do love a good Land of the Lost reference.

That having been said, although I completely disapprove of being drunk while supervising a child, especially near a large body of water, I have to congratulate this woman on SURVIVING. The only person I know who got that high of a BAC was in the hospital for alcohol poisoning. Her liver must be pickled.