A couple that thought they'd teach their daughter a lesson learned one themselves.
Annette Gerhardt and Gerardo Santiago took their 6-year-old child to the 120th Precinct in Staten Island and left her there.
The couple claims they were just trying to teach her to behave, but police weren't so sure, so they arrested both parents for endangering the welfare of a child.
Gerhardt came into the station last week and told officers, "I can't take her anymore," authorities said. "She is uncontrollable. I'm going to leave her here. If you don't take her, I will take her to the firehouse."
The mother claims she winked at officers so they would know she was kidding.
A law enforcement source told the Staten Island Advance, "she was serious about dropping her off. She did not wink or nod, and the officers weren't in on her 'joke. "Certainly, this is not a joke."
From the Advance:
The law enforcement source said police in the precinct tried to reason with her, and even offered to call the city Administration for Children's Services on her behalf.
"She wasn't hearing any of it. She didn't want them to call ACS," the source said, adding that the woman tried to walk toward the door, and the officers had to prevent her from leaving. Santiago eventually came in and told police, "My girlfriend is bringing our daughter here to scare her and teach her a lesson, by telling her if she keeps acting up, we are going to leave her here," court papers allege.
Gerhardt insisted she tried to make it clear to police that her abandonment was all a ruse. At one point, she said, she covered her daughters ears and explicitly said she was only acting.
"There's no reason I would ever in my life tell anyone I didn't want my kid," Gerhardt said. "I was just trying to show her she has to listen to all adults, and that's it."
One of Gerhardt's friends had taken her 4-year-old child to another precinct with positive results, so Gerhardt wanted to give it a try with her daughter.
After the arrest, Gerhardt said she is considering suing the NYPD over the incident.