Sarah Beam: Texas mom stuffs son, 13, in car trunk for being Covid-positive
HOUSTON, TEXAS: A mother from Texas is facing criminal charges for allegedly stuffing her son, 13, in the trunk of her car after he tested positive for Covid-19. Sarah Beam, 41, did so to avoid getting exposed to the virus.
Beam allegedly packed up her son and took him to a drive-thru Covid testing center in Houston on January 3. Witnesses claimed that they heard noises coming from the back of the car when Beam pulled up to the tented testing center at Ken Pridgeon Stadium. When the health services director at the site, Bevin Gordon, made Beam open the car's trunk, he found the teenager lying inside.
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Beam tried to explain that her act was an attempt to keep her son isolated. The mother has worked as a teacher in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District since 2011. “(The mother) stated that she put (her son) inside the trunk to prevent her from getting exposed to possible Covid while driving (him) to the stadium for additional testing,” charging documents obtained by local outlet KPRC said.
Gordon told Beam that she and her son would be tested only if she removed the teenager from the trunk and made him sit in the back of the car. He later called the police. According to the Cypress Fairbanks ISD Police Department, a warrant has been issued for Beam’s arrest on child endangerment charges. Beam was taken into custody and posted a $1,500 bond. The school district runs the testing site and has its own police department, which investigated the matter and confirmed that child “was not harmed".
A probable cause statement revealed that surveillance footage showed Beam opening the trunk door and her son, who was trapped inside, climbing out. Recently, Beam worked as a teacher at Cypress Falls High School. She has now been placed on administrative leave. Cy-Fair ISD Police Department said: "CFPD was alerted that a child was in the trunk of a car at a drive-thru Covid-19 testing site earlier this week. Law enforcement conducted a full investigation, resulting in a warrant for arrest. Thankfully, the child was not harmed."
According to Sgt Richard Standifer of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the boy could have been seriously injured in case the vehicle had ended up in a collision. “I have never heard of somebody being put in a trunk because they tested positive for anything," said Sgt Richard Standifer told local TV station KHOU 11.