Common sense was a long time coming

The charges rightfully were dropped Thursday against the Tinley Park mom who's been all the rage on the Internet lately for being charged with child endangerment after leaving her 2-year-old daughter in her locked car for a few minutes.

Treffly Coyne's sleeping daughter was within her eyesight and no more than 30 feet away while she took her two other daughters and a friend to pour $8.29 into a Salvation Army kettle.

A community service officer spotted the car with the child, and according to Coyne, was "on a tirade" and "yelling at me" when she returned, the Associated Press reported. Since Dec. 8 when the incident occurred, Coyne has faced misdemeanor charges of child endangerment and obstructing a peace officer that could have landed her in jail for a year and had her paying a $2,500 fine.

"It's hard to be living 97 days under the scrutiny of being called a child abuser when no child was abused," Coyne told reporters Thursday. "It parallels, I put my child in the car seat and unload the groceries, and I take a cart back to the corral at the grocery store. I know plenty of moms and people who do that."

Don't we all? In fact, many of us who are middle-aged or nearing it can remember when there were no child car seats or bicycle helmets and when seat belts seemed extraneous.

But as so many avid Web posters have noted recently, this story could have ended another way. What if someone skidded into Coyne's car parked in a loading zone in sleety weather? What if, while she was snapping photos of her do-gooder older girls, a thief smashed her car window, jumped in and drove off?

How many times have we all read stories about parents who leave their children in hot cars for too long or who dash into stores for quick trips that become too long?

This is a case where everyone involved made bad decisions. Everyone could and should have shown better judgment. It should have ended long ago.

Crestwood police have been mum lately, so it's hard to judge whether the officer was on a tirade. Surely, we all would want the officer or anyone nearby to be alarmed at the sight of a child alone in a car, but it's likely an arrest that nearly went to a trial was taking this case too far. We agree with those who have vented about the time and tax money wasted here.

We empathize with Coyne and with busy parents everywhere, but was it really necessary to take the girls for their good deed on that sleety night when the 2-year-old was asleep? Was it necessary to park in a loading zone? To take the time to snap pictures of the good deed, possibly leaving the toddler out of her eyesight for a few seconds?

Common sense ultimately prevailed with this incident that escalated into an odyssey for all involved, but the cooler heads and common sense were a long time coming.