Staten Island couple arrested for child endangerment for taking daughter, 6, to police to scare her
Rocco Parascandola AND Rich SchapiroWednesday, February 23rd 2011, 1:09 PM
via Facebook
Enayla Santiago's parents took the six-year-old to a police station - and then got taught a lesson of their own.
A Staten Island couple's plan to scare their troublemaking daughter straight by bringing her to a police station backfired when cops arrested them for child endangerment.
The parental misfire occurred Friday when Annette Gerhardt and her fiance, Gerardo Santiago, brought their 6-year-old daughter to the 120th precinct stationhouse.
The couple's daughter, Enayla, was acting out in school, and Gerhardt got the idea to take her to a police station after a friend did the same thing with her problem child.
"They pulled her kid aside and said, 'This is where bad girls and boys go," Gerhardt, 25, told the Daily News Wednesday. "That's what I was looking for."
That's not what happened.
Gerhardt said that after she escorted her daughter inside and asked an officer to "play along" with the gag, the cop turned serious and reprimanded her instead.
"She told me that I was an unfit mother," Gerhardt said. "I sat there with tears in my eyes."
Minutes later, both Gerhardt and Santiago, 27, who was waiting in a car outside, were arrested and charged with misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child.
They were arraigned on Saturday and released on their own recognizance.
Cops say that Gerhardt was arrested as she walked out of the precinct, leaving her daughter behind, after telling officers, "I can't control her any more. I'm leaving her here. If I can't leave her here, I'll leave her at the firehouse."
But Gerhardt's lawyer claims it was all just a big misunderstanding.
"It's really just a misunderstanding that police blew out of proportion," said Matthew Blum. "She was trying to scare her daughter straight...Her mistake was not contacting police before doing this."
Enayla was in the custody of her grandmother until Tuesday when she was returned to her parents.
Gerhardt and Santiago have been in trouble with the law before.
The young couple was reportedly busted last April on felony drug charges after cops discovered a half-pound of marijuana in their home.
For her part, Gerhardt says she wishes she never stepped foot in the stationhouse with her daughter.
"It was horrible," Gerhardt said. "It's an experience you just wished in that moment that you didn't do it - that you could just take it all back."
LINK TO PHOTO OF PARENTS AND AUDIO:
April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008