Parents are shaken this morning after a child witnessed a younger sister get picked up by a private vehicle, in what appeared to be a kidnapping. The child reported the incident to his mother, who frantically called Hatzolah after her son said the young girl was picked up in a private vehicle and taken away from Massachusetts Avenue.
Police were also contacted and a frantic search began.
An Amber Alert was about to be issued with the State as well.
A short time later however, it was discovered that the bus driver had picked up the child in a private vehicle and drove with the child to the bus terminal, where they both got onto the school bus to do the morning run.
Police have met with the company and the driver of the bus.
It’s unknown at this time if charges are being filed. TLS-55/TLS-CCP
This is why any responsible parent should not leave an older sibling to watch his younger sister go off to school. A disturbing incident that would have never happened had there been adult supervision. It’s our duty to protect our children, even if we have to get to work 5 minutes late and even if it means standing outside in the freezing cold with other children. It is a scary world out there…
Once again we call a private number which delays the response of the Police Dept. People need to be educated to call 911 when an emergency like this arises. Think about the time that can go by after the person gets done calling a private 10 digit number instead of a 3 digit number. Also keep this in mind, once your connected with the Police a message can be sent out to all police officers to be on the look out for the vehicle or person which can solve this case in a timely manner.
Why in the world would you call hatzalah for a Kidnapping dnt understand
because the lpd is busy giving out parking tickets while shots are being fired.
bud driver should be fired!!!!!!!!
Ppl don’t think their very nervous they just call whoever it was not smart to call hatzolah its the same thing ppl call chaverim wen there’s a fire ppl have to not be scared to call the police dept this is their job to protect and serve
In a case like this – call PD first, Hatzalah second – if at all.
yes call 732.363.0200 and press 0 for the direct line to the Lakewood police Dispatch. 911 first is connected to Ocean County.
what was this bus driver thinking? i could care less who this driver is or who this company is? what is a driver picking up a child in a private vehicle.
Obviously not thinking.
YOU will only create suspicion.
Because you know Hatzolah will take your call seriously and get things moving, while with the police dep’t you never know who answers the phone and how many dumb questions they ask till they realize the seriousness of the situation.
if the law is that a 6 year old who lives close to school has to walk up to 2 miles to school then they can wait on there own corner alone for bus
Can someone give me to understand why the child went into the car??? I don’t care who the driver is, my children have been warned time and again that they are not to get into anyone’s car – other than Totty or Mommy, without explicit permission from Totty or Mommy. This applies to uncles too. Yup, no other choice in this crazy world. I am proud that my children have refused rides from male neighbors who they met in the grocery store. It’s irrelevant of wether or not I trust those neighbors. That decision should be mine to make, not my child’s. For her/him it is vital to know that no one is to be trusted.
Why would you call hatzolah AT ALL? I love the comments about the parking tickets. Why do people park wrong to begin with and who are they to tell the police how to do their jobs? If no tickets were given out, the people who are affected by the illegal parking would complain. It seems like the cops cant catch a break, no matter what. Just remember, the law is the law
Why would u call Hatzola. They are not the police. I understand the police department is understaffed due to recent retires and the threat of 5 officers being layed off, but there are capable officers who do an outstanding job. WAKE UP CITIZENs OF LAKEWOOD. Oh, and make sure an adult is waiting at the bus stop with the children. Stop bashing the police. If u wanted the job so bad, u could have taken the test, got hired, went to the police academy, and u too could have made a difference in the community.
i was there when everything was happening. Police were not called first as there was a question whether it could have been a neighbor. However police were called and responded asap. The police were very nice,very smart and went above and beyond. We should be very proud of our police officers. Hatzollah was a comfort and also a wonderful lisason with the school.They were needed.
B”H we live in this wonderful town with professionals and volunters who work together in times of need.
I see some really dumb statements posted here, if you are a parent it is your obligation to protect your child .
Quote”can not understand says:
if the law is that a 6 year old who lives close to school has to walk up to 2 miles to school then they can wait on there own corner alone for bus
That just plain ridiculous this is what happens with no parent supervision in fact I call it negligance
The reason to call hatzolah first is simple
If you call 911 it takes 6 to 9 minutes for the call to be dispatched from the county you call hatzolah 30 seconds later the call is dispatched
Pd can only put a limited amount of resources on any one particular incident verses hatzolah could have 35-40 people on it in 2 minutes that’s even before chaveirim or lcsw get called
To #4 nachi says. Very intelligent response to a potentially serious situation. Sit down with me and we can discuss what I have covered in my 26 years on the streets, then we will let you talk about parking tickets. Grow up.
here are a few comments I would like to make:
The parents should be ashamed of themselves. This is another reason why children should be driven to school in a car pool or by parents.
1- the bus driver should be fired
2- we need to find out why this child was picked up in a car?
3- the bus company needs to be fined. This is one way to get the bus companies attention.
4- Lakewood needs a real transportation department
People, you need to wake up
It cannot possibly take 6-9 minutes for a call to be dispatched from county, however it is always best to call the main LPD # 732.363.0200 and press 0.
BEC HATZOLA GARENTEES A QUICK RESPONSE. and if it was your child, u would do the same.
the parents should be with the child at the bus stop never a sibling i don’t care how old the sibling is, i always went with my children to the bus stop, and to number 11 bravo my thought’s exactly.
Even when calling the local police number it could take sometimes 15 minutes untill they arrive, but when you call hatzolah they will arrive in 2 minutes or less and even police will arrive much faster when being called by hatzolah (wich hatzolah does)
put the LPD on speed dial on your cell if you’re not going to call 911 first. Make it # 9. Very simple. 911 by the way, doesn’t take 6-9 minutes to dispatch. Have experience with that one. Maybe you are on the phone with them for that long because they stay on until someone arrives, but they don’t take that long to dispatch. You can hear them connecting.
IMO, children should not be waiting at a bus stop without an adult regardless of age or what sibling is with them. Predators can snatch children up before the others know what is happening or have the maturity to prevent. It sounds like this child recognized the bus driver which could be the reason the child got into the car. The bus driver’s actions are inexcusable and deserve the severest of penalties. It was kidnapping even if their intentions were innocent. You took the child without the parents consent. Plain and simple.
Why would the bus driver pick up a child on the way to the bus depot anyway? I assume the child went along willingly because she recognized her bus driver, who was not a stranger to her. Unless the driver had intent to harm, maybe we shouldn’t all be so up in arms about this. Maybe she was running late and figured this would save her time. It was out of the ordinary, but maybe there was no harm intended.
toIt’s a bit strange says:
THATS NO EXCUSE !!
we are going to see at some time here a real tragedy due to the lack of common sense of some parents concerning the safety of their children.
No child should ever getinto a vehicle unless the Parent says its OK and if the parent is not there to tell the child thats a double problem NO Child should be left alone without the supervion of parent or guardian PERIOD ………………………….
#10 Who is the 6 yr old in Lakewood that walks 2 miles to school? I want names, places, dates….or are you just throwing out stupid ideas for gullible people to feed on?
Where in the world were the parents? Don’t blame the entire world because the parents don’t watch their own children. Be thankful it was the bus driver who picked the child up. Without an adult present anything could have happened.
Anonymous says:
DECEMBER 21, 2010 AT 11:11 AM
Because you know Hatzolah will take your call seriously and get things moving, while with the police dep’t you never know who answers the phone and how many dumb questions they ask till they realize the seriousness of the situation.
LPD # 732.363.0200 and press 0.
We take all calls seriously. We have to ask those “dumb questions” so we can get the information to the officers to look out for the persons. At the police department there are 14 Dispatchers that answer the phone day & night. Round the clock, there is always someone to answer the phone there.
Yea of little faith, then when we don’t get the call first and its a priority call you complain that we are not fast enough.
hell0 the bus driver picked up the girl because she was a further stop then rest of route and bus driver was late so figured that shes passing the stop anyway on the way to the bus terminal duhhhh didnt any of you commenters think about that
#13 wrote ” I understand the police department is understaffed due to recent retires and the threat of 5 officers being layed off”
LPD is not understaffed due to a threat of layoffs at the moment those five officers are still there.
If you don’t want to call 911 because of delays with the county(they first ask your story and then patch in to the LPD and you usually have to repeat the story). It is all true. That is why I have
732-363-0200 EXT 0 on SPEED DIAL. Don’t call Hatzolah for a kidnapping!!
Sorry but I’m not calling the EMS to help me if my child is kidnapped, there is an intruder in my home or my house is on fire, I don’t care how quick they get there. They will only have to call the appropriate authorities to help. That is a waste of time.
If my electricity goes out I’m not going to call the water company just because I like them more.
yes, most people understand that the busdriver was’nt tryin to kidnap, but still she should not have done that, especially without the parents knowing.
No police bashing! But, the reality is that a frum jew will do everything in his power (and more) to save another person’s life. When the seconds count, they drop everything and run. Our police department and EMS do fantastic jobs. But, for many, it’s just that – a job! How many police officers or EMS personel would come to an emergency after hours -for free? (Obviously overtime pay may make it worthwhile, but I said “free”.) I KNOW there are those who would! I even know some of them personally. But, I believe they are the minority.
Let me illustrate: About a year ago, I was in line at the post office. An elderly gentleman collapsed into my hands! Since I was holding the patient up, I called out to the postal worker /clerk to call an ambulance. She did so, quite slowly… About 10 minutes later a Lakewood EMS ambulance arrived. One of the personel WALKED in to the post office taking her time. She looked at the man for a second. Then she walked out and got the stretcher together with the other EMS worker (who had not yet exited the ambulance). She did not exert herself the entire time! Now the two EMS workers walked in slowly again, this time with their medical bag and stretcher. How did they know he hadn’t had a stroke or heart attack? Even if she figured that out after viewing him for a second (without touching him!) – and that’s highly doubtful! Why was there no rush to enter the Post Office the first time?
My understanding is that they are 9-5ers just like any employee. They view their service as a job, not as an opportunity to save as many lives as possible. Why run? The teller doesn’t run. The cashier doesn’t run. The gas attendant doesn’t run. Well, neither does an unmotivated EMS employee.
I will say that the police ARE generally quicker & better than the EMS, but seconds count!
There may be some Police officers & EMS workers that are in it to serve and save lives. In fact there ARE some! But, what guarantees that he/she will be the one to respond?
That, my friends, is the reason we call Hatzolah first!
I want to just add one disclaimer: Obviously, I would only call Hatzalah for issues that I believe they can help with. I understand it’s debatable how much they would be able to do for a kidnapping. (Although, they can have more people that the police do, on the streets looking for a missing child)
I’m only saying that when Hatzalah CAN help, I would call them WAAY before calling in the “professionals”.
The reason Hatzolah is called is simple. People are trained to fear the police, and most interactions people have are normally negative. If the same person can ticket me, how can I trust him to help me. People feel that the police are out to get them, ticket them, and arrest them for minor infractions. This leads to distrust of the police.
Also, the parents probably felt the fear of prosecution for leaving the child alone outside, and by having a person liaison between the police and parents can mitigate the risk of such.
This sounds like we are dealing with egos. PD and EMS (Hatzolah) have their respective jobs. if someone calls PD and its a medical job then they will call EMS and if someone calls EMS (Hatzolah) and its a Police job then they will notify PD. We are not talking about measurable time lapses. The driver did something wrong and should be disciplined. The message needs to get out that this is not acceptable. The driver had good intent albeit poor judgment. No need to fire her just to give her a strong message.
As far as the parents are concerned. Yes, if the parents would be with the child it wouldn’t have happened. We are great judges for others. We know exactly how OTHERS should parent their kids. Everyone should take care of their own kids. Don”t be quick to judge. This can happen to YOU .
Call 911 and the next thing you know the child services is knocking on your door and taking away your kids!
And I am of course waiting for the responses that will say that the parents deserve it.
This is getting so many responses because we all know it can happen to anyone. No matter what we tell our children we really never know how they will act in a given situation.
So hatzollah was called first and the police second. They both responded quickly. We should thank them,and nothing like this should ever happen to anyone ever!
Hey #34 I take offense to your comments. A job yes it’s a job. A job that all of us first responders take very serious and are very devoted too. As far as responding after hours for free, this is something that alot of us would like to do but unfortunanetly we are prevented from doing this due to a Federal Law called the Garcia Act which prevents us from volunteering after hours.
Rushing into a scene without first looking at everything around you is foolish and dangerous. We need to ask ourselves constantly why did someone collapse, why is osmeone hurt, sick, ill, etc… in this day of age you need to assess the scene very carefully.
Do you know how many first responders end up getting hurt or killed and fall victim to an incident they are responding to, obviously you don’t, so let me provide the numbers for you and everyone else: Line of Duty Deaths for Firefighters in 2009 – 84, in 2010 – 93, Line of Duty Deaths for Police Officers in 2009 – 120, in 2010 – 143, Line of Duty Deaths for EMS in 2009 – 27, in 2010 – 48.
These numbers represent those dedicated and devoted first responders killed in the line of duty, the numbers are higher for line of duty injuries.
There is no safe place in this world anymore not even in good Ole Lakewood, not even in a Post Office. So for that first responder to respond and enter the way they did good for them, they responded as they were trained and practiced to do so.
Police quicker to a scene Yes I won’t argue that statement but here is why that happens because there are more Police Officers patrolling then there are EMT’s. I know for a fact that there are several times that EMTs beat the Police Officers to the scene of an emergency and place themselves in danger just to save a person not even thinking about the outcome.
First repsonders are trained to assess a person within minutes, we read people like a book, we know what signs to look for and what resources are needed to assist us. Could this EMT know whats wrong the person very quickly, sure because they have received and continue to receive the training needed to quickly assess a person. First Responders can’t take 15- 20 minutes or longer to examine people we have to be quick especially when we deal with a large amount of people in distress.
As far as having a 9-5 job, what in the world is that and where can I find one, because I would certainly love to have that job. I would also love the opportunity not to work holidays, heat waves, extreme cold and dangerous weather conditions. A first responders job is not a cozy office job, it’s a job with one of the most extreme working conditions to be found, a job that most people can’t handle or even think about doing. All first repsonders strive very hard everyday to save and help as many people as we can, this is why we made the decision to do these jobs in the first place.
So the next time you want to say it’s a 9-5 job why don’t you do your homeowrk first and see what is involved and why don’t you think about riding along with every agency to see how difficult our jobs really are. There is so much the general public doesn’t know that happens on scene and that we have to deal with. It really is a stressful but rewarding job.
Be safe brothers and sisters and see you on the next job!
To # fellow firefighter/emt says:
Thank you for your comments so others can see the truth.
There are some postings here that are really not fit to be printed with false information
why is it a comment i made about not leaving your child without a Parent or guardian been removed , if you do that is very troubling
Mr Wow #12
Unfortunately confidence in the LPD is at an all time low right now. I live here 15 years and can not recall shooting after shooting like now. The Panicked parent called what her impulse told her is HELP!
bus driver thought he or she was doing something good and all this happens , only in lakewood ( it was cold out there )
a bus driver should fired and charged for picking up a student in a private vehicle.
A) no insurance coverage- whta if something would have happened?
b) i dont care the child recognized the bus driver. many children who are abused are well known to their victims before the abuse happenend. teach your children not to get into a vehicle that is not a school bus and if something looks diffrent such as when there should be many kids on the bus and all of a sudden there is a change.
c) these days one must keep his/her name clean by not brining any suspicion onto themself. late to work or not is not an excuse for such activity.
Too many judgemental yentas. U all need to get a life.
a child’s life was in possible harms way , so Its understandable that many have posted concern here ,
Quote “Too many judgemental yentas. U all need to get a life”
What are you saying ignore this problem???
I find that approach troubling ,things will not change if thats the way most felt !
What’s wrong with an older sibling watching the younger one. Did we forget what happened with miriam and moishe?
What a bunch of grumpy people on this site. Crack open a beer and ease up a little we’re all human. I’m sure the bus driver had good intentions, but was wrong in his/her actions, however well intentioned. I agree with Christine, the driver should be “dealt with”.
#48
Read your Parsha better! Moshe was left there on purpose due to the Gezeira of Paroh killing all the boys. Thats not the ideal! huh!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes. People are freaking out like someone was shot. Chill out. Well, was someone shot? This is Lakewood and recently it has become the “in” thing to shoot or get shot……just joking. But in all seriousness, the bus driver had good intentions, but did something really wrong. Yes he/she must be dealt with. But peopla are freaky deaking out. Dude!
Chil!
#36. That is the dumbest thing that has ever been posted on this site
To #36
You can’t possibly be serious???
52 i see you dont read alot of the posts on this site. the only possible reason i can see for the driver to pick up the child is that its freezing outside and being that he knew when he would get to her stop , out of mercy he picked her up. i myself have taken my kids to school a few times over the past week with the cold weather. if theres any suspicion on him , why is he driving in the first place? secondly, the same potential problem exists with the first or last passenger on a daily basis. the type of people that do those types of things have a history of repetition. thirdly , maybe he’s a frum yid and were bashing him without any info?