Dad Accused of Trying to Trade Baby for Beer
Original posted by: Omen2002 @ THC
Link to news video( May 18 ) -- Police in Chicopee, Mass., have charged a 24-year-old man with reckless endangerment of a child after he allegedly offered to swap his 3-month-old baby girl for two 40-ounce bottles of beer.
"For two 40s, you can have her," Matthew Brace, the infant's father, told an employee at a Pride gas station and convenience store, Police Chief John Ferrao Jr. said.
According to police, Brace and his girlfriend entered the gas station Monday afternoon. When an employee asked the couple how old their child was, Brace made his offer, then placed his child and her stroller in the employee's truck, police said.
The employee then called police, a Chicopee police spokesman told AOL News. When officers arrived, Brace was discovered with his daughter behind the gas station near a trash bin. His girlfriend, who has not been charged, was inside the store buying cigarettes.
The Republican newspaper of Springfield, Mass., reports that the couple live at the Econo Lodge that abuts the gas station. Brace, his girlfriend and the baby were placed at the hotel by the state as part of a program to house the indigent.
After his arrest, Brace was sent to Baystate Medical Center for an evaluation, The Republican reported.
At a news conference, Ferraro said Brace's offer to trade his baby for beer was no laughing matter. "It's not a joke; this is very serious," he said.