Mom Charged Over Makeshift Bike Towline

AUGUST 12--It probably seemed like a brilliant idea at the time.

Nicole Paris’s son and a friend had gone for a long bicycle ride when they got tired on the trip home. So the boy called his mother for a lift back to their Pennsylvania residence.

But when Paris, 34, reached the children, she realized that her car was not big enough for the juveniles and their bicycles.

So, cops say, Paris “came up with the idea” to place a towel in the car’s rear hatch, which then would serve as a towline for the children to hold onto while sitting atop their bikes.

However, as described in a criminal complaint, Paris’s invention failed miserably when her son “lost his grip” on the towel and fell off his bicycle. The boy’s friend then proceeded to run over his pal with his bicycle.

The complaint does not reveal the ages of the boys, or whether either suffered injuries.

During a police investigation of the June 23 incident, Paris’s son “stated he wanted his mother charged and he would testify in court to this incident.”

Paris was charged with two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of children. She was also charged with allowing the minors to hang onto a moving vehicle.

Paris is scheduled for a September 17 preliminary hearing in District Court. (2 pages)