What happens when a three-year-old plucks some leaves from a tree branch? Well, if a Parks Department employee is watching, the child's mom gets a summons.
WABC 7 reported on this act of arboreal malfeasance: Apparently little Ana Stinner--who "can barely reach even the lowest branch on the tree in question"--grabbed some leaves while playing in Chelsea Waterside Park. Her mother Elaine Stinner says the leaves were from a twig, but a parks officer disagreed and wrote that the 35-pound tot "severed a branch."
Elaine says she told the parks officer she didn't see Ana do it, but he apparently wasn't taking any excuses.
"He told me that if my daughter had committed a murder while I wasn't watching, I'd still be responsible," Elaine said. "She's 3, so I really didn't know how to respond to that."
The Parks Department has now told WABC 7's Eyewitness News "the summons was issued improperly. We are in the process of voiding the summons and speaking with the officer who issued the summons. The mother should have been given a warning."
Maybe Ana can find 7-year-old Nathalie Shea of stoop chalkitti fame and they can form a support group.
