Around this time a year ago, Palm Beach County sheriff's deputy Ira Peskowitz stood in a greeting card aisle, fingers trembling as he fumbled through rows of pink and purple birthday wishes to find something pretty for a little girl with eyes like his.
Months before the six words she uttered on a Dr. Phil episode propelled her to internet infamy, Danielle Peskowitz Bregoli reluctantly accepted the card and a pair of Nikes from Peskowitz in a hastily-arranged meeting at the Boynton Beach Mall – more a peace offering than an early birthday present from a father she hadn't seen in years.
Tears welled in Peskowitz’s eyes Monday when he recalled that encounter during an exclusive newspaper interview with The Palm Beach Post.
Months into her notoriety as the "Cash me Outside" girl for a fight invitation she made to audience members on the daytime talk show, Danielle is at the center of a custody battle recently revived by her father, who says he wants her out of Hollywood, into therapy and eventually at his house with his wife and their two sons.
“She’s not famous,” Peskowitz said. “She’s a child that is being exploited.”
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