Sarasota Sheriff: Drunken grandparents towed child in toy car

[Zorro]

The grandparents of a 7-year-old girl gave her a car ride Sunday, but sheriff's deputies say there were two major problems: they towed the girl in a plastic car behind their SUV, and the driver of the vehicle was drunk while they towed her.

Paul J. Berloni, 49, of the 3300 block of Clark Road East in Sarasota, is charged with driving under the influence, child endangerment and driving with a suspended license. Sheriff's deputies say he has been convicted three times prior for DUI.

Belinda Jean Berloni, 47, of the same address, faces a child endangerment charge. Deputies say the granddaughter was not injured.

At about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, a deputy eastbound on Clark Road reportedly saw the SUV on a parallel access road near Rockefeller Avenue. The SUV was pulling a plastic Hot Wheels car with a girl dressed in a swimsuit but wearing no protective gear such as a helmet. The toy car was tied to a trailer hitch with two dog leashes. The deputy estimated the SUV's speed at 5 to 10 mph.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120430/BREAKING/120439979/2627?Title=Sarasota-Sheriff-Drunken-grandparents-towed-child-in-toy-car

[Laura PourMeADrink]

1. that's funny, I don't care who you are. nt

[Luminous Animal]

3. It cracked me up, for sure!

[Fumesucker]

2. If your parents towed your daughter in her toy car behind their SUV..

Then you just might be a redneck..

If Foxworthy doesn't pick this up he's missing an opportunity.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

4. so, what if it's grandparents? grand-redneck? ugh ..We

used to get pulled on our sleds behind a station wagon with ropes

[Fumesucker]

5. I never claimed not to be a redneck..

And I'm a grandparent..

Yeah, we got pulled behind the car on a sled when we were kids and nobody thought anything of it..

[MattBaggins]

7. Fortunately since you were a kid they invented something called physics

and what happens when the car tries to stop or something goes wrong.

[Fumesucker]

8. Evidently you misunderstood me..

I was pointing out the different standard today versus when I was young, which was a different standard to when my parents were young and so on..

[MattBaggins]

11. No I got you. It was tongue in cheek

When I was a kid we used to sled down a hill towards a road and we built jumps on purpose to see if we could clear it.

[HuckleB]

6. Can't we just give Florida to Cuba and be done with it?

I mean, we could make Puerto Rico the 50th state, and be somewhat even, right?

[NBachers]

9. I lived in Florida; we put a life jacket on my little girl & towed her behind my brother's catamaran

It was in a little inlet off the Hollywood Intercoastal Waterway. It was a small boat, and she was having a great time.

I'm glad there were no sharks nearby.

Later that night, she won the limbo contest at Tugboat Annie's, but that's another story.

[MrMickeysMom]

10. Jesus, that's fucked up...

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/tVGt9CZHEvvHHN0t9Pzr3w--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/