WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Usually, it’s an empty threat: “If you kids don’t stop fighting, I’m going to stop this car right now and leave you here!” But a mother from an upper-crust New York suburb went through with it, ordering her battling 10- and 12-year-old daughters out of her car in White Plains’ business district and driving off, police said Tuesday.

A judge on Wednesday modified a temporary order of protection against 45-year-old Madlyn Primoff and her two daughters. Her lawyer, Vincent Briccetti, said Primoff is no longer barred from living or talking with her children.

Primoff, a partner in a Manhattan law firm, pleaded not guilty to a charge of endangering a child on Monday.

Briccetti would not comment on details of the case. But he said, “Madlyn is a great mother connected with a great family, and she is grateful for the outpouring of support from friends and family.”

There wasn’t much support from strangers, however. Mothers interviewed near the scene said they couldn’t imagine doing what Primoff did, though some understood the urge.

Iris Gorodess, 49, of Mahopac, who has four children ranging from 10 to 19 years old, said she sympathized with Primoff’s actions, right up to the point where she pulled away.

“I used to pull over and make the kids change seats. Also, I make sure the kids have their iPods and their games. And I have a minivan, so they’re not up my neck all the time.

“But I can’t see pulling away. That has to be too scary for the children.”

‘Good Samaritan’ finds one girl
White Plains police said Primoff ordered the arguing girls out of the car Sunday evening as they were driving home. She left them at Post Road and South Broadway, an area of shops and offices 3 miles from their home, then drove off, the police report said.

The report does not say whether the girls had cell phones.

Police would not say if Primoff ever returned to look for the girls, but they said, without explaining how, that the 12-year-old eventually caught up with the mother. The 10-year-old was found by a “Good Samaritan” on the street, upset and emotional about losing her mother, police said.

The girl gave police her mother’s name and their address in well-to-do Scarsdale, and they asked Scarsdale police to check Primoff’s $2 million house. Shortly afterward, Primoff called Scarsdale police from home to say the 10-year-old was missing, said Scarsdale Detective Lt. Bryant Clark.

He directed her to White Plains police headquarters, where she was arrested.

Dr. Richard Gersh, director of psychiatric services at the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services in Manhattan, said Primoff’s behavior was not appropriate.

“It is a traumatic situation for a child to be abandoned by a parent like that. You can imagine what emotional issues might arise,” he said.

Source(article): MSNBC

Source(picture): MSNBC

On Tuesday, an unnamed british tourist took a dive in the moat of
Japan’s Imperial Palace. Police took him into custody, but not before
he threw rocks, ran around with a construction site pole, and splashed
in the water. The authorities are looking into his mental condition.

Michelle Allen of Middletown was arrested on one count of disorderly conduct after police say she chased children in her neighborhood while wearing a cow suit and urinated on a neighbor’s front porch.
MyFoxCleveland reports

MIDDLETOWN, Oh. — A Middletown, Ohio woman is behind bars, charged with disorderly conduct after she was arrested while wearing a cow suit.

Police say Michelle Allen was getting in the way of traffic and chasing children while wearing her cow suit.

She’s also accused of urinating on a neighbor’s front porch.

Allen was also wearing the cow suit when she appeared in court Tuesday morning.

Thank you Mr. Fox

On this day in 2005, New York Times reporter Judith Miller is released from a federal detention center in Alexandria, Virginia, after agreeing to testify in the investigation into the leaking of the identity of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame. Miller had been behind bars since July 6, 2005, for refusing to reveal a confidential source and testify before a grand jury that was looking into the so-called Plame Affair. She decided to testify after the source she had been protecting, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, signed a waiver giving her permission to speak.

The Plame Affair dates back to a July 6, 2003 op-ed piece for the New York Times written by former U.S. diplomat Joseph Wilson, Plame’s husband. In it, Wilson questioned the Bush Administration’s reasons for going to war in Iraq. Later that month, on July 14, undercover agent Valerie Plame’s identity was revealed in a newspaper column by Robert Novak. Wilson’s claim that the disclosure was retaliation by the White House for his op-ed piece sparked an investigation in December 2003 led by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. A 1982 law made it illegal to reveal information about a covert agent to anyone not authorized to receive such classified information.

Fitzgerald interviewed President George W. Bush, Vice President Cheney and other top administration officials, along with various journalists. Although Miller hadn’t written an article about Plame, she did meet with Libby shortly after Wilson’s op-ed piece was published and Fitzgerald believed Miller had information that was relevant to his investigation.

After 85 days in jail, Miller was released and testified before a grand jury that prior to the Novak column, she had several discussions with Scooter Libby in which he talked about Plame. On November 9 of that same year, Miller announced her retirement from the Times after a 28-year career with the newspaper.

On March 6, 2007, Scooter Libby was convicted of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements to federal investigators in the Plame investigation. In June, he was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and fined $250,000. However, one month later, on July 2, President George W. Bush commuted Libby’s prison term before the ex-White House aide served any time.

HISTORY.COM
Date: 2008-09-29