Woman arrested for allegedly pinching kids Issues Beyond Palo Alto, posted by Editor, Palo Alto Online, on Jan 13, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Mountain View police arrested a woman on Thursday (Jan. 12) on suspicion of pinching children's cheeks in a bookstore. Polly Beltramo, 46, of Palo Alto, was arrested at about 2:50 p.m. after she allegedly pinched two children on the cheek, police said.
Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, January 13, 2012, 2:40 PM
Posted by Huh?, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 13, 2012 at 5:57 pm
How can this woman be arrested if there were no credible witnesses and the mom wasn't even watching her children? Were the children crying? Maybe she thought the kids were cute and just wanted to pat them. Something isn't right!
Posted by Dick, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Jan 13, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Most stores are videotaped these days. I believe that particular store could be one too. Also, who were these children? Her own? Was she watching them? Or was she the Mother? Regardless, no one should be allowed to hurt a child. If she did in fact "pinch" them. She deserves a lot more than a simple visit to a jail.
Posted by Huh?, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 13, 2012 at 9:16 pm
Dick,
You do make a good point that she may be the mother since the article lacks information.
But your type of attitude shows you have never raised anything but submissive children or have not raised them 24/7. I agree it's not okay to hurt a child, but sometimes parents reach their limit. Someone witnessing one act cannot conclude that the parent is a bad parent. There are plenty of parents who physically abuse their children on a regular basis - they just make sure they do it behind closed doors.
Posted by John, a member of the Gunn High School community, on Jan 14, 2012 at 5:49 pm
How irresponsible of the Police for issuing the initial statement the the girls were bitten. Than they retract and say she pinch the girls and now its pinched hard to draw blood. What the hell did she do pull the skin apart. Do you think that maybe a sharp thumbnail caused the cut. If you read the comments by the police spokeswoman it appears she has taken this personal. read her comments today in the SJ mercury. This poor woman was probably only indicating how "cute" you are and had no harmful intent. Of course she ran. She was probably scared half to death with all the goofy ass adults screaming. And the way some of he articles were written have her portrayed as a vampire. Know of a good attorney. I would bury the Mountain View Police department for not doing an investigation into this before issuing a statement. They are not even saying what this woman said to the police. And just who the hell does this police spokesperson think she is. I see a major lawsuit coming after hopefully this woman is released of this ridiculous charge. She probably wondering what the hell she did wrong.
Posted by Me, Myself and I, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 14, 2012 at 8:25 pm
Not that it is any excuse for pinching or biting the children, but where was their mother? She should have been keeping track of her kids so something like that does not happen.
Perhaps the news outlets should get their facts straight before they publish. A scoop only counts if it is accurate.
Posted by Hmmm, a resident of East Palo Alto, on Jan 14, 2012 at 10:22 pm
I can't help but think that all the Beltramo sympathizers here commenting are victioms of:
-Not reading other news reports of this incident
-Believing that a Palo Alto resident couldn't have bad intentions w/these kids.
Reread your abysmal comments, people. Beltramo committed a crime & needs to be held accountable. If she's mentally unstable, that needs to be addressed. But what she did was wrong & is NOT the mother's fault.
Posted by Larry Cohn, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Jan 15, 2012 at 5:38 am
Somebody needs to start committing some real crimes in Mountain View because clearly the police department has way too much time on its hands. The woman should also sue the P.D. for libel for saying she bit the kids when she did not.
Posted by AnnBelt, a resident of another community, on Jan 16, 2012 at 11:27 am AnnBelt is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online
I agree with John. I don't know Polly that well, but enough to know that she would never do anything like this deliberately. I know her to be sweet, and sometimes naive, and I'll bet right now she is scared to death and wondering what she did wrong. I would love to hear her statement, if it is ever released.
Posted by Hmmm, a resident of East Palo Alto, on Jan 17, 2012 at 12:45 pm Hmmm is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online
How sad hat people are defending this woman. She injured 2 children & needs to be held accountable. Living in Palo Alto doesn't make this defensible, nor does knowing her. She may be in emotional distress and hasn't gotten the help needed. Regardless, she has victimized 2 babies.
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