Yes, because depression is an excuse for crime, and this could have nothing to do with all the mind-altering substances the mom was on…
Police: Mom on wild chase blames postpartum depression
KENNER, La. — Police say postpartum depression was the explanation given by a woman accused of crashing into three cars during a police chase, then dropping her 15-month-old son over a seven-foot fence while running from officers.
Kenner police stunned Christine Lorraine Bird, 38, of Metairie with a Taser after she dropped the boy Thursday afternoon, Lt. Wayne McInnis, spokesman for the department, said Friday.
Neither the boy nor any of the three motorists whose cars were hit were hurt, McInnis said Friday.
The chase began when a Jefferson Parish sheriff’s deputy saw the woman’s car heading down a heavily traveled street against traffic, according to McInnis and a sheriff’s office arrest report.
He tried unsuccessfully to pull over the 2004 Honda Accord when it turned onto another street. After hitting the other cars, the Accord struck a traffic barrier. The driver jumped out, tossed her son over a fence, ran across four lanes of traffic and was hiding in a bush when an officer approached, the arrest report said.
After she screamed at officers and threatened to hurt her son, an officer used the stun gun to control her, the police report said.
The boy was checked at a hospital and released into the care of relatives, McInnis said.
“She just told the officer that she was suffering from postpartum depression, no more no less,” McInnis said Friday. “She claims that was the reason she was having problems.”
He said Bird told investigators she was taking an antidepressant. A search of her car turned up marijuana, a muscle relaxant and some caffeine tablets called “Stay Awake,” according to the Kenner arrest report.
She was booked with DWI, DWI child endangerment, cruelty to a juvenile, and two counts each of reckless driving and hit and run driving, McInnis said.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office booked Bird with aggravated flight from an officer, failing to obey a police officer, approaching an emergency vehicle, hit-and-run driving and two counts of reckless driving.
Filed under: antidepressants, car chase, child endangerment, PPD
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