A Phoenix mom was arrested on fourth degree felony child abuse charges after local law enforcement officers discovered she poured beer into her toddler son’s sippy cup. Earlier this week police officers were called to the Peter Piper Pizza restaurant after a waitress claimed she saw Valerie Marie Topete 36, pour liquid from a pitcher on the table into her 2-year-old’s little sippy cup. According to police statement excerpts published in the Sacramento Bee, Topete admitted to pouring beer in her child’s cup because he “kept reaching for the pitcher of beer.”
Officers examined the liquid inside the toddler’s sippy cup and decided the youngster was indeed chugging a beer. Topete’s toddler son was transported to a local hospital for precautionary observation and was later released into his father’s custody, CBS News reports. The good Samaritan waitress also stated that Topete left her toddler son alone at one point during the evening. The child’s father and siblings ages 4 and 8 were also present in the restaurant at some point, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Topete also told law enforcement officers that she put a “splash of beer” in her toddler son’s cup as a bit of reverse psychology, hoping he would not like the taste and stop grabbing at the pitcher on the table, My Fox Phoenix Channel 10 News notes. A witness also reports that the child fell out of the high chair, leading the individual to believe the toddler was intoxicated after watching the mother pour liquid from a pitcher into the sippy cup.
Would you call 911 if you saw a parent pouring alcohol into a child’s cup?