Usually the auto traffic police are the ones who come to the rescue of children and babies left unattended in cars.  However, in Grand Junction, Colorado, this was not the case.

Colorado State Patrol trooper Jeffrey Verbas stopped Keio Saupaia for speeding on April 28, 2008, around 11 o’clock at night.  When he saw that there was a 10-year-old warrant out for her because of a dog violation, he arrested her and took her to jail, leaving Saupaia’s car on the side of the road.  That sounds reasonable enough, right?

He also left her 7 month old daughter and her 15 year old niece to fend for themselves.

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Our car accident lawyers believe if had been Saupaia who had left the children in the car unattended, she would have been charged with child endangerment, at the very least.  Colorado State Patrol officials said they could not give specifics about Verbas’ punishment because it was a personnel issue.  For all we know, this trooper received just a stern talking to.

There are so many questions and problems involved in this story, it is hard to figure out what we think is the most outrageous.  What if someone had stolen the car?  What if someone had hit the stopped car, causing a car accident?  It was nearing midnight, remember.  It would have been difficult to see the car.  What if the children needed medical attention for whatever reason, and they had no adults to help them?  What in the world was that state trooper thinking?

Granted, he called Saupaia’s sister to let her know to retrieve the children.  Unfortunately, he did not wait to make sure she arrived before leaving the scene.

We understand the people affected by what as car accidents attorneys we view as outrageous behavior, that the parents are not that upset.  Instead, we believe with the publicity surrounding this erratic behavior, they simply do not want this to happen to someone else.

They are lucky that nothing did happen to the two girls while they waited for their aunt to pick them up.  Otherwise, they would have quite a mess on their hands, such as a wrongful death automobile accident as many time DUI car drivers strike cars which are parked with flashing lights on the side of the road.

Please contact us for a free consultation with an experienced car accident attorney — we speak both English and Spanish — at (800) 655-6585.  Click here and you may also submit your case for a Free Review.  No fee if no recovery.

About Michael Pines

Michael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who specializes in car accident injury. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes on how insurance companies work and how they decided to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael's inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents.

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