The 9-year-old girl, sitting on a booster seat behind the wheel of her father’s large van, asked the police officer why she was being pulled over.
After all, she had been driving well. She even used her turn signal. Twice.
“She was doing fine,” Brownstown Township Police Detective Lt. Robert Grant said. “And, in fact, as heinous as this is, the little girl looks at the police officer and says, ‘What did you stop me for? I was driving good.’ Incredible. Obviously, the officer told her she was too young to drive.”
It was 2:46 a.m. Oct. 8, and the girl had just left a Citgo gas station at Telegraph and West.
In the passenger seat was her 39-year-old father, suspected of being drunk, police said.
The father, Shawn Weimer, 39, of Brownstown Township now faces charges of felony child abuse and being a habitual offender. A preliminary examination is scheduled today in 33rd District Court in Woodhaven.
http://liarcatchers.com/electronic_surveillance.html
The Free Press could not reach Weimer or his attorney Monday.
On store surveillance video, Weimer brags to a clerk at Citgo about his daughter.
“I got a designated driver,” he said. “Nine years old. Nine. Dad, drinking. Listen, we’re leaving, and she’s driving.”
At one point, the girl said, “And I parked,” as Weimer told the clerk the girl drove all the way to the store.
Police learned about the 9-year-old from a caller who watched the girl get behind the wheel and her father get in the passenger seat.
“She’s like 7 years old, driving,” the caller told the 911 dispatcher. “She’s got her turn signal on and she’s turning right on Beech Daly.”
The 62-year-old New Boston man, who asked that his name not be used because he fears repercussions, said he noticed Weimer talking loudly to the clerk at the gas station, calling his daughter his “little angel.”
The man said he and the clerk remarked that the man seemed drunk.
“I said, ‘That’s nice — he’s got his little angel and he’s going to drive drunk.’ And (the clerk) said, ‘No, he’s not driving — she’s driving.’ ”
The New Boston man followed the van west on West Road and called 911.
“She’s driving pretty good, I’m telling ya — I can’t believe it,” the man told the dispatcher.
Officers caught up with the girl at King Road and pulled across the intersection as she approached.
“She’s right there and put her turn signal on,” the caller said, chuckling. “She just went left. She just went right past your cars — she’s still driving. She’s going west on King.”
Officers finally pulled over the pair near Dean, Grant said Monday.
Weimer told officers he was teaching his daughter to drive, Grant said.
“He was argumentative with us, that it was his right to teach his daughter how to drive,” Grant said.
The girl told officers her father had been drinking whiskey all night, took her out to drive, and then decided to stop at the station, Grant said.
The girl’s parents are separated, and she was with her father for the weekend, he said.
At the police station, Weimer refused to take a breath test, Grant said.
He was charged with second-degree child abuse, a four-year felony, and fourth-degree child abuse, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
He also was charged with being a habitual offender and could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
The habitual offender charge stems from Weimer’s convictions on four felonies: receiving and concealing stolen property, unarmed robbery, felon in possession of a firearm and felony firearm, Grant said.
According to the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office, Weimer was convicted of operating while impaired by liquor in connection with an October 2007 crash in Wyandotte and had his license restricted for a year, spokesman Fred Woodhams said Monday.
Weimer currently has a valid Michigan driver’s license with no points, Woodhams said.
Judge Michael McNally of 33rd District Court arraigned Weimer on Oct. 10.
McNally gave Weimer a personal recognizance bond, with the conditions that he not have contact with his daughter and pay $25,000 if he does not appear in court.
Wayne County Child Protective Services also is investigating the case, Grant said.
