A Michigan woman has been charged with child abuse after she ran over her 9-year-old son as she dropped him off at school last week.
Tiffany Amber Kosakowski, 36, of Plainfield Township, is also charged with reckless driving causing serious impairment of body function, according to Kent County court records.
MLive reported that Kosakowski, who was arraigned Friday, was released on a personal recognizance bond.
Kosakowski was dropping off her son, a third-grader at Chandler Woods Charter Academy in Belmont, Dec. 11 when she ran him over with her vehicle, causing injuries to his head and body, MLive reported. He was taken to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, where he remained in critical condition Monday.
Surveillance footage from outside the school showed the boy was hanging onto the front passenger door by the handle as his mother drove on, the news site said. He lost his grip and was run over by the rear passenger tire.
Investigators said in court records that Kosakowski knew her son was holding onto the door handle when she drove away.
"Tiffany knowingly drove the vehicle in a manner that was likely to, and did, cause serious physical injury to (her son) as he fell from the moving vehicle," read the probable cause affidavit obtained by MLive.
Cindie McGarry, one of Kosakowski’s neighbors, expressed shock over the accusations against Kosakowski.
"I just cannot fathom her doing this on purpose, no," McGarry told WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids. "There's no way."
McGarry described Kosakowski as a woman who keeps to herself, but obviously loves her children. She said it was unfair for people who do not know the woman to judge her.
"(The kids) were never out of her sight. She watched them really well, so I don't know what happened," McGarry told the news station. "I would have to literally, actually stand there and watch it happen for me to believe that she really actually ran over her son on purpose."
Kosakowski is next due in court Dec. 28.
About the Author
