Mother Accused Of Parental Abduction, To Be Released
MIAMI (CBSMiami)- A mother accused of parental abduction will be released Friday or Saturday from house arrest.
Carrie Weingarth,32, was charged with one count of custody interference by a parent.
In February, Weingarth allegedly took her oldest son Erin out of school without permission, even though she does not have custody of him and along with his brothers went to California with her boyfriend.
There was a large cross-country search for the kids and a joyful reunion at the airport but Weingarth's attorneys allege the investigation was a show.
On Wednesday, Miami-Dade Schools' police officers crowded a Miami courtroom by the dozens to talk about the way their department handled the case.
The school officers were subpoenaed after the attorney for Weingarth claimed school police exaggerated the claims against her so they could fly across the county and make more money on over-time investigating this case.
Weingarth's attorneys said two police officers told them that the department knew the three boys were not in danger and were never abducted. They said these officers told them the highly publicized search for the kids was done so the officers could bill $10,000 in overtime.
Wednesday's hearing was full of finger-pointing by cops and accusations of wrong-doing.
Officer Daniel Rivera said the mother should have never been charged.
"I found that Ms. Weingarth had custody of the kids," said Officer Rivera.
The cross-country search also cost thousands of dollars. It's tax-payer money Officer Rivera said shouldn't have been spent.
"There was no reason for the dragnet. There was no reason to do whatever they did," said Officer Rivera.
Other detectives in court said they were just following orders.
Miami-Dade Schools' Chief of Police released a statement on the issue saying, " If the outcome of the case indicates that there was any wrongdoing by our officers, we will conduct an official investigation and proceed accordingly."
