Mom shouts obscenities from river

HASTINGS, Mich. (WOOD) - A Grand Rapids woman was taken to jail after police say she got drunk, floated in a river with her young son and then shouted obscenities at officers.

Hastings Police were called to Tyden Park around 8 p.m. on July 21 after they received a 911 call about a woman and her young child floating in the Thornapple River, according to a release. The 911 caller said that the woman appeared to be drunk and the child was yelling that he was cold and hungry.

Police soon arrived at the park and found the woman and child still floating on three tubes lashed together with plastic grocery bags in the river. One tube held the woman, another held the child and a third held a cooler.

Officers called out to get the attention of the woman and child. The woman didn't answer at first, but the boy shouted back that he was cold and hungry. The mother then looked at the officers and told them, "Mind your own business, (expletive)."

The officer asked the woman not to use profanity because of children in the area and asked if she needed medical attention. The woman then shouted another expletive at the officer and made an obscene hand gesture. At that point, officers concluded the woman was extremely intoxicated.

An officer waded into the river to reach the woman and child, but she maneuvered the tubes further away from him. One officer kept an eye on the woman and child as another officer when downstream to intercept them.

The woman continued to shout "vulgar insults" at the child before passing out. The child also appeared to fall asleep.

Officers soon obtained a canoe from a rental business nearby and pulled the mother, still unconscious, and child to shore. EMS checked out the child, who did not appear to be hurt.

The woman soon awoke and again shouted curse words at officers. She was asked to refrain from foul language, but she continued to say inappropriate things to officers, including racial slurs, until she was loaded into a police vehicle and taken to jail, where she continued to cause problems.

The 6-year-old was remanded into the custody of DHS and then his grandmother. DHS has been forwarded the case for review.