The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #53419   Message #823309
Posted By: SharonA
11-Nov-02 - 09:50 AM
Thread Name: BS: Traveller Discrimination Update...
Subject: RE: BS: Traveller Discrimination Update...
From this South Bend, Indiana, Tribune article: http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2002/11/09/local.20021109-sbt-MARS-A10-Toogood_arrested_on.sto

November 9, 2002
Toogood arrested on Michigan warrant
By GWEN O'BRIEN, Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- Madelyne Toogood, caught apparently beating her 4-year-old daughter by a department store security camera in September, got a break from a local judge Friday -- but her good luck did not last long. Toogood, 26, found herself back behind bars Friday night after South Bend police picked her up on a felony warrant out of Monroe County, Michigan.

The warrant is apparently from a May incident in the city of Monroe, south of Detroit, where Toogood allegedly supplied Michigan motor vehicle workers with a false address and name when applying for a driver's license and state identification card. The felony is punishable with up to five years in jail.

Earlier in the day, St. Joseph Superior Court Judge William Albright agreed to modify the conditions of Toogood's pretrial release on the charges related to the alleged beating of her daughter Martha. For that, she faces a felony child battery charge and a misdemeanor false informing charge. The judge permitted Toogood to report in person only one day per week to the Adult Probation Department, rather than every weekday as she has been doing for six weeks.

Until her arrest Friday night, Toogood was free on $7,000 cash bond. Now, she is expected to be extradited to Monroe County, according to South Bend police supervisor Sgt. Scott Ruszkowski.

Cpl. Rick Ruszkowski and Patrolman Brian Evard arrested Toogood at Maple Lane Apartments, off Bendix Road, at 7 p.m. Friday. "We received information from Mishawaka police of a probable address where we could find her. We found her at Maple Lane Apartments, where she apparently had been living," Ruszkowski said.

While arresting her, Cpl. Ruszkowski took a closer look at the Cadillac Toogood claimed to be hers. Cpl. Ruszkowski discovered possible evidence that the vehicle identification number might have been altered. Police impounded the car so that detectives could determine whether the car was stolen.

Sgt. Ruszkowski said Toogood's two sons were at the apartment and that her mother apparently took them home with her. Her mother already has custody of Martha. Recently, Toogood was charged in LaGrange County (Indiana) with theft. There is also an outstanding warrant in Lansing (Michigan) alleging use of false identification at a traffic stop.

Tribune writer Marti Goodlad Heline contributed to this report.

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Actually, the Michigan false-information charge is old news. There was an Associated Press story that appeared in the South Bend Tribune a little over a week before the arrest: http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2002/10/31/local.20021031-sbt-MICH-D4-Police__Toogood.sto (archived article, reprinted in part below)

October 31, 2002
Police: Toogood facing false information charges
The Associated Press

A woman caught on videotape beating her 4-year-old daughter in Mishawaka used false information in May at a Secretary of State Office in Michigan, state police said.

Madelyne Toogood, 26, is expected to be charged for giving false information, The Detroit News reported Wednesday. The Mishawaka resident also has an outstanding warrant in Lansing for using fake identification at a traffic stop.

"When she comes back (to Monroe), we'll take care of that, too," state police Detective Sgt. David Meyer said.

Toogood supplied Michigan motor vehicle workers in Monroe, Mich., with a fake address and name when applying for a driver's license and state identification card. The felony is punishable with up to five years in jail....

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So the arrest itself is no surprise. What is surprising to me is that Madelyne did not turn herself in to Michigan authorities to face those charges instead of waiting to be arrested in front of two of her children.