Woman claims she, toddler left alone after car towed by police
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LAKEWOOD, Wash. -- In Washington, if you get caught driving on a suspended license and your car will be towed. But a Lakewood woman claims police left her and her 3-year-old daughter to fend for themselves.
Debbie Sorensen was pulled over at 7:30 p.m. for driving on a suspended license. By law, officers had to have her car towed away.
But Sorensen said police didn't have to leave her and her 3-year-old daughter, alone, in a dark parking lot. Sorensen says a friend was coming to help, but the officer wouldn't wait.
"And he just said, 'How soon can you have someone here?' And I said, 'Within 10 minutes,' and he said, 'no that's too long,' " she said.
Lakewood Police Lt. Chris Lawler says the law is the law; the car had to be towed. Lawler says Sorensen could have gone to a nearby store to have a safe place to wait.
"We're going to do everything we can to make sure the person's not left in a harmful situation or a dangerous situation and I don't believe she was at this point," Lawler said. "But that's something we always worry about."
But Sorensen said being alone, at night, she definitely felt unsafe.
"That is the part that just really bothers me a lot because as a mother you want to protect your child," she said.
Lawler says others could soon be in Sorensen's predicament. The city is in the midst of a crackdown on those who drive with a suspended license.
"A person who has his driver's license or her license suspended generally knows it, but chooses to drive without the insurance and put others at risk and that's not fair to the general public," Lawler said.
As for why was Sorensen's license suspended? Because she failed to pay a speeding ticket on time last year. She eventually paid the ticket but not the $25 late fee, and that's an automatic suspension.
Debbie Sorensen was pulled over at 7:30 p.m. for driving on a suspended license. By law, officers had to have her car towed away.
But Sorensen said police didn't have to leave her and her 3-year-old daughter, alone, in a dark parking lot. Sorensen says a friend was coming to help, but the officer wouldn't wait.
"And he just said, 'How soon can you have someone here?' And I said, 'Within 10 minutes,' and he said, 'no that's too long,' " she said.
Lakewood Police Lt. Chris Lawler says the law is the law; the car had to be towed. Lawler says Sorensen could have gone to a nearby store to have a safe place to wait.
"We're going to do everything we can to make sure the person's not left in a harmful situation or a dangerous situation and I don't believe she was at this point," Lawler said. "But that's something we always worry about."
But Sorensen said being alone, at night, she definitely felt unsafe.
"That is the part that just really bothers me a lot because as a mother you want to protect your child," she said.
Lawler says others could soon be in Sorensen's predicament. The city is in the midst of a crackdown on those who drive with a suspended license.
"A person who has his driver's license or her license suspended generally knows it, but chooses to drive without the insurance and put others at risk and that's not fair to the general public," Lawler said.
As for why was Sorensen's license suspended? Because she failed to pay a speeding ticket on time last year. She eventually paid the ticket but not the $25 late fee, and that's an automatic suspension.
