Boy Calls Police to Report Mother for Drunken Driving

This is a rush transcript from "The Big Story With John Gibson and Heather Nauert," October 23, 2007. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

HEATHER NAUERT, CO-HOST: Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, even pint-size. The mother of an eight-year-old boy should be very proud of her son for saving her life, his life, his sister's life, and the lives of countless numbers of others. And it is all caught on a dramatic 911 call.

GIBSON: But she is the one who could have killed them. And tonight, she is under arrest. Big Story Correspondent Douglas Kennedy has the shocking tape of that smart boy's call.

DOUGLAS KENNEDY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: This is a really heartbreaking story, John and Heather. This boy called for help because his mother was drunk driving and both he and his sister were in the car.

Police, today, are calling him a courageous kid who probably saved lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KENNEDY (voice over): She is charged with drunk driving and endangering her children. But this woman wasn't nailed at a sobriety checkpoint. She was bagged by her own eight-year-old boy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911, how can I help you?

8-YEAR-OLD BOY: She's been drinking at a restaurant and those are affecting her and I don't think she knows what's going on.

SGT. TIM BIEBER, CLARK CO., WA., SHERIFF'S OFFICE: He — he certainly did the right thing in this case. I am sure he has mixed emotions about it, but certainly did the right thing to protect himself and all the other motorists out there.

KENNEDY: Police say Paulette Lynn Spears was driving drunk on this road in Vancouver, Washington, when her small son snatched her cell phone and called 911.

8-YEAR-OLD BOY: I don't think she knows what's going on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, well do you have any idea where you are?

8-YEAR-OLD BOY: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, are you driving in a car right now?

8-YEAR-OLD BOY: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How old are you?

8-YEAR-OLD BOY: I'm eight years old and my sister is five years old and she's in the car with me.

KENNEDY: The boy, police say, was trying to protect himself and his sister from his out-of-control mother. In two heartbreaking calls lasting a little less than two minutes each, he struggles to figure out where his mom is going.

8-YEAR-OLD BOY: I don't know what to do right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, well is there any way you can find out where you are?

8-YEAR-OLD BOY: I don't know — she's jabbing now — she's jabbing me now.

KENNEDY: Police say the 33-year-old mother jabbed the boy with her fingers, then bit him to get him to hang up the phone. She then pulled into this parking lot at a local fire station, where she was arrested.

BIEBER: Throughout the phone the conversation with the child the dispatcher was finding landmarks that he could see. And they were also using the cell phone technology, where the cell phone was pinging off the towers to figure out kind of an area where she was at. At least give a generalized idea of the location. Eventually, when she pulled into the fire station, the firefighters at that station called us, and we were about one minute behind.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KENNEDY: Police say they have contacted child services, and they say they are conducting their own investigation. They say the boy and his sister, John, are now in a custody of a relative in the area.

GIBSON: That's now, but is the — the boy busts his drunk driver mom?

KENNEDY: Yes.

GIBSON: What happens eventually? Is she going to be able to keep the kids?

KENNEDY: You know, it's very difficult to take away somebody's kids. You really have to show some severe, severe abuse. I mean this is a terrible tape.

GIBSON: This is close.

KENNEDY: Yes. This comes close, but you know, physical, mental, emotional. You really have to have a history of it. And she has a history of drunk driving but not of that

GIBSON: Douglas Kennedy — Douglas, thank you.

NAUERT: Douglas, thank you.

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