Police: Woman let son, 9, drive to school

DOVER, Del. - November 16, 2011 (WPVI) -- A Delaware woman is facing charges after police say she let her 9-year-old child drive to school.

34-year-old Tammy O'Neal has been charged with reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child after allegedly sitting in the passenger seat of her car while her 9-year-old son drove the vehicle to school.

Action News spoke with Tammy's aunt, Rachel Stevenson, who says she is not defending what Tammy's accused of doing, but she says you can't judge her on one wrong move.

"Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody's not perfect. She's a good mom," Stevenson said.

The police were notified about the incident after a witness called 911 reportedly seeing a child behind the wheel pulling up to W. Reilly Brown Elementary School in Dover.

Dover police quickly matched up the vehicle description with the owner and made the arrest a few hours later.

Investigators admit that one of the first questions they asked O'Neal was why?

"She basically said that he was bugging her to drive and she gave in to him and let him drive," Dover Police Captain Tim Stump said.

Meantime, Stevenson says she just hopes this whole thing gets resolved without Tammy doing time.

"[If] she goes to jail, who's going to watch that little boy. She doesn't need to go to jail. She needs that little boy, that little boy needs her," Stevenson said.

O'Neal was released on bond.

Action News is told, while O'Neal could serve time in jail, she will more likely be put on probation with a stern warning to never do this again.

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