WHITE PLAINS – A federal jury in White Plains has found that police officers from the Town of Montgomery did not discrimination against a woman with multiple sclerosis when they arrested her for endangering the welfare of her five-year-old son after he fell from a van that she was driving.

The woman filed a lawsuit alleging various infringements on her rights by the three officers. The majority of her claims were dismissed by the court prior to trial, but the court ruled a trial was necessary to determine whether the officers had discriminated against her in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.        

Prior to the arrest, a witness had called 911, advising that she was following a van, that a child had fallen from the vehicle, and that she believed the driver was intoxicated.

After talking with the woman and determining she was not intoxicated, she admitted her son got out of his seatbelt in the rear of the van, opened the front passenger door and had fallen onto Goodwill Road while the van was moving.  She was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and operating her vehicle without proper child restraints.

The criminal charges were dismissed after a trial in Town of Montgomery court.

The officers testified in federal court they had treated the woman with respect and that the charges filed against her were based on the incident involving her son and had nothing to do with her health.

The jury deliberated for over three hours before finding that the officers had not discriminated against her.