Mom Gets Jail Time for Running Over 9-Year-Old Son When He Refused to Go to School
A Michigan mother has been sentenced to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to reckless driving for running over her 9-year-old son when he refused to go to school, multiple outlets report.
“It is simply inexcusable what you did,” Kent County Circuit Court Judge Curt Benson told Tiffany Kosakowski, 36, of Belmont, on Thursday when he sentenced her to 6 months in jail, with all but 30 days suspended, local station WZZM13 reports.
Kosakowski pleaded guilty in February to reckless driving causing serious injury for dragging her son in the parking lot at Chandler Woods Charter Academy, where he was a third grader, WZZM13 reports.
Surveillance video shows the child hanging onto the passenger side door handle as she drove away, WZZM13 reports.
When he lost his grip, he rolled under the car and was run over by the passenger side rear tire of the vehicle, WZZM13 reports.
The boy survived the December ordeal but was left seriously injured with a fractured skull, traumatic brain injury, and broken bones, local station WOOD-TV reports.
He now requires extensive physical therapy, Mlive.com reports.
Expressing remorse for her actions, Kosakowski, a single mother of twins, told the judge she had to “live with this for the rest of my life,” the Detroit Free Press reports.
“All I care about is being there for my son as he recovers and supporting him every day as I have been doing,” Kosakowski told the court, WZZM13 reports.
The incident took place on Dec. 11, 2018, after Kosakowski tried to drop her son off at school. He began following the car and walking alongside the vehicle as she drove away, court records show, WOOD-TV reports.
“She stopped right away,” Kent County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Joel Roon told local WOOD-TV in December.
But, he added, “There are additional moments leading up to that moment that were caught on camera,” Roon said, WOOD-TV reports.
Kosakowski was aware of her son’s “presence at the front passenger door handle,” according to probable cause affidavit obtained by Mlive.com.
She “knowingly drove the vehicle in a manner that was likely to, and did, cause serious physical injury to (the son),” the affidavit states, Mlive.com reports.
Kosakowski “admitted to moving the steering wheel from left to right, then accelerating the vehicle knowing [her son] continued to be next to the vehicle,” the document states, WZZM reports.
Kosakowski has no prior criminal record, WOOD-TV reports.
“She’s been cooperating with investigators fully and I think most of her time has probably been spent at the hospital,” Roon told the outlet.
Friends of Kosakowski said they believe she did not intentionally harm her son, WOOD-TV reports. A GoFundMe page was set up for her and her children to help with legal and medical costs.
The judge said he received 30 letters supporting Kosakowski, WZZM13 reports.
“Of the 30 people who wrote the letters, I’ll be quite blunt with you — I am not sure all of them would be as supportive, if they, like I, watched the security footage of this incident,” the judge said, WZZM13 reports.
“It was really hard to watch, and I am not sure you would enjoy as much support as you evidently do, had that been widely distributed.”
Calls to Kosakowski’s attorney were not immediately returned.
