Man Tried To Swap His Baby For Beer At Convenience Store

CHICOPEE, Mass. — Authorities say a Massachusetts man offered to give his 3-month-old daughter to a maintenance man outside a gas station convenience store in exchange for a pair of 40-ounce beers.

Chicopee police say 24-year-old Matthew Brace of Northampton made the offer on Monday. The maintenance man called police, who found Brace hiding with the girl behind a trash container.

State child welfare officials took the baby into custody.

Police say Brace was not arrested but will be summoned to court to face a charge of reckless endangerment of a child. A phone number for him could not immediately be found.

The child's mother was in the store at the time buying cigarettes. She has not been charged.

Comments

[dino213aa]

01:30 PM on 06/14/2010

Eww.. Miller? No way.. now throw in some Belgian trappist ales and we'll talk.. lol!

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

05:25 PM on 05/21/2010

actually, the above story turns out not to be entirely true....cops think that he may have been trading her for crack.
http://boston.com/community/blogs/gatekeeper/2010/05/the_baby_for_beer_offer_an_inn.html

also, is this really the type of story HuffPost created the "Food" section for? I don't really think this qualifies as a food story ;D

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

05:17 PM on 05/21/2010

perhaps 7-Eleven should become an official drop-off location for unwanted children....like hospitals and fire departments. just sayin'

[derickma]

04:52 PM on 05/20/2010

USA USA USA !!!!

[liberalbug]

01:20 AM on 05/20/2010

Saw this headliine and thought "smart man" until I realized that the swap was for miller. At least hold out for some quality beer, man!

[sonoffestus]

04:22 PM on 05/19/2010

Never trade a child for a Miller.

[City of Evil]

06:28 PM on 05/19/2010

The article didn't say what kind it was, but it did say "40 ounces", which should narrow it down a little.

[sonoffestus]

07:47 PM on 05/19/2010

You are correct on both counts, I was working off the photo. CHEERS!

[Brautigan]

07:57 PM on 05/18/2010

I honestly wonder if the guy was just joking around, trying to get a couple free beers. I mean, that's still pretty atrocious, but I gotta wonder if it was just a case of very bad taste.

[blueskybigstar]

07:50 PM on 05/18/2010

Without beer the baby probably would not have been born.

Sorry. Just trying to empathize. Not.

[caad4]

02:07 PM on 05/18/2010

Sounds an even exchange to me!

(I jest of course. But sometime, for a pint of Sierra, well...)

[sisyphus93]

01:27 PM on 05/18/2010

A person like that is not worth the air he breathes.

[BookKeepersSon]

04:19 PM on 05/18/2010

Jeez, you're really having a fun day today Sis, critisizing to the hilt every individual you can find to write about.

I'll bet you're next in line to be the pope or something. (Uh oh, now I'm a gambler and not worthy of my place in the human race, right?)

This is a tragic story. You think it's about the individual's character? You think this is a simple bad act? No. This is a person with deep seeded problems. His trouble probably go back generations. I'm not saying he should be excused, but it sounds like you want him shot without asking any more questions about the matter. How judgemental can one person be!?

I'd hate to be your kid, man. One A- on my report card, one dirty sock in my bedroom and there would go our relationship forever it seems.

Light the f up, man! Put some thought into what you're reading and writing in response. There's more going on here than meets the eye.

[sisyphus93]

05:25 PM on 05/18/2010

Come on...whatever his childhood may have been, he's an adult now. He tried to trade his kid for beer. He's a p.o.s.

I don't think there is anything wrong with gambling, by the way. I don't do it (because I don't like losing money), but what a man does with his own money is his business.

[Raphael00]

06:18 PM on 05/18/2010

"Light the f up"... He tried to trade a baby for a couple 40's!

The state now has custody of the kid and he can go "fix his problems"... You'd hate to be her kid! ... But being traded for beer is okay cuz he has social issues!!!! pfft

[memosyne]

11:26 AM on 05/18/2010

Beer and cigarettes for this couple. These are legal but still indicative of an addictive life style.
Should they give that baby up for adoption? I bet there are more than a few childless couples who would be delighted to have her.

On the other hand if her mother drank beer and smoked cigarettes during her pregnancy, the poor child may already be damaged from intra-uterine exposure. Sad, Sad, Sad.

If we want to be a really great nation we have to find a way to convince our citizens that having a child is a big responsibility. I'm in favor of family planning courses in junior and senior high school. There used to be one in Maine that required the students to carry around a 10 pound sack of flour everywhere they went for a whole month to demonstrate the 24/7 burden of taking care of a baby.

I'd also contribute to a foundation that paid for voluntary sterilization plus a bonus. This guy could buy lots of beer for $100 and probably wouldn't miss fertility a bit.

Anybody else interested?

[Toonguy]

11:33 AM on 05/18/2010

Unfortunately the religious right believes that family planning is an affront to all that is holy and will lead to people living in sin.

So instead, we get stories like this.

[Grandma Koolfinger]

12:09 PM on 05/18/2010

From your comment below, didn't this state also give us the Kennedy's, Tip O'Neill, John Kerry, Michael Dukakis, as nauseum. What has Scott Brown have to do with anything relating to this story?

It seems somewhat disingenuous to blame the religious right, although I agree their heads are a couple of threads shy of being screwed on tight, for these two dirtbags procreating in this most liberal of states.

I personally believe that abortion should be allowable through the fifty seventh trimester, but that's just me.

[sisyphus93]

01:27 PM on 05/18/2010

Not family planning. Abortion. And only an idiot would try to pin this on "the religious right." Try blaming the jerk who actually tried to trade his baby, you child.

[PCPrincess]

12:28 PM on 05/18/2010

I agree. In fact, let's start it! The government gives money to non-profits. We could start it with government assistance then get donations. We could advertise on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter and in local schools. Get paid to Norplant! (I'm not kidding) We require licenses to drive and anyone can pop out a human being.

[newtom]

11:23 AM on 05/18/2010

Does that include the bottle deposit?

[Toonguy]

11:12 AM on 05/18/2010

From the same state that gave you Scott Brown! I am truly, truly sorry.

[BookKeepersSon]

04:23 PM on 05/18/2010

From the same country that gave us you.

You SHOULD be truly, truly sorry for that ridiculous statement.

[Checquoline]

01:04 PM on 05/20/2010

I think MA sent him to Washington to get rid of him the same way Missouri sent Ashcroft to Washington to get rid of him. Washington sent Ashcroft back. MA won't take Brown back.

[KIVPossum]

10:22 AM on 05/18/2010

A 3 month old for two 40 oz? That's a real bargain; they usually go for a case of Guinness.

[BebeLush]

03:24 PM on 05/18/2010

Anybody who drinks Guiness knows it's well worth your first born.

[SusanElizabeth1949]

02:01 PM on 05/19/2010

But ONLY on draft! I love the stuff, but on more then one occasion the waitress/waiter has given me my husband's white zin and him my Guinness.