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Des Moines mom charged for driving while son clung to side mirror

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November 3rd, 2023 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa [WHO-TV] — A Des Moines woman faces charges after allegedly driving her car while her son was clinging to the driver’s side mirror in September. WHO-TV reports on September 28 at around 3 p.m., 34-year-old Sammi Jo Thurman was driving her vehicle out of the parking lot of Southeast Elementary in Ankeny onto SE 10th Street. According to a criminal complaint, school surveillance video showed Thurman’s 7-year-old son hanging onto the driver’s side mirror the entire time Thurman was driving and while other vehicles were passing them.

Thurman has been charged with child endangerment and a no contact order barring her from her son has been filed.

Thurman is also facing a charge of possession of contraband in a correctional institution after she was found to have a “baggie of a crystal-like substance believed to be methamphetamine” on her person when she was booked into the Polk County Jail, a criminal complaint states. Thurman has since been released and is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 21.