12-16-2010, 02:38 AM
ST.LouisToday.com
:merryeffing:
ST. CLAIR COUNTY • A Belleville woman is in jail after selling her children's Christmas gifts to buy crack cocaine, police said.
Sandra J. Bauers, 35, the mother of two young sons, stole about $1,000 worth of toys and gifts that the children's grandmother bought last week, according to Sheriff's Capt. Steven Johnson. Bauers then sold the gifts to buy crack, Johnson said.
The children — two boys, ages 4 and 5 — were staying with their grandmother, Bauers' mother, who has a restraining order against Bauers.
Bauers was held on $50,000 bond at the St. Clair County Jail, for violating the restraining order.
The grandmother, Pamela Gyon, said she wanted Bauers to be a part of the children's Christmas, so she invited her daughter to go shopping with her, despite the restraining order.
"That was my error," Pamela Gyon said. "She had a drug habit. I tried to help her as her mother, but drugs are more important."
Gyon, 57, said the restraining order was because her daughter had stolen her car, jewelry and husband's tools in the past. But Gyon thought her daughter had kicked her drug habit.
"When I think about it, there are a lot of signs she was back on drugs — agitation, very hyper, nervousness," Gyon said.
Gyon said her husband is fighting cancer and is on disability. He received his monthly disability check last week and Gyon went shopping for the grandkids. Gyon bought about $1,000 in presents for the children, intending to let Bauers give some of them to her two sons as if she had purchased them.
On Thursday night, after the shopping spree, Bauers slept over at the grandmother's home in the 100 block of Pecan Lane, in unincorporated St. Clair County. The next morning, the 4-year-old boy woke up, looking for his mother. Bauers was gone — and so was the grandmother's car full of gifts.
After Gyon called authorities, Bauers was found at a motel, preparing to leave in Gyon's 2000 Mercury Mountaineer.
"Sandra is driving, and in her right hand is a crack pipe," Johnson said. "She admits she sold all of the presents."
She sold some at a crack house, some at a combination pawnshop and liquor store in East St. Louis, and some on the street, Johnson said.
The gifts included children's toys, figurines, clothing, blankets and DVDs. Some of the toys were for Bauers' two kids; others were for four other young relatives.
Some of the stolen items were recovered from the pawnshop. Gyon said police returned three toy trucks and a few dragon figurines to her. She said she and her husband have limited incomes and she doesn't think they can afford to replace the presents.
Other charges, including for theft, are being reviewed.
:merryeffing:ST. CLAIR COUNTY • A Belleville woman is in jail after selling her children's Christmas gifts to buy crack cocaine, police said.
Sandra J. Bauers, 35, the mother of two young sons, stole about $1,000 worth of toys and gifts that the children's grandmother bought last week, according to Sheriff's Capt. Steven Johnson. Bauers then sold the gifts to buy crack, Johnson said.
The children — two boys, ages 4 and 5 — were staying with their grandmother, Bauers' mother, who has a restraining order against Bauers.
Bauers was held on $50,000 bond at the St. Clair County Jail, for violating the restraining order.
The grandmother, Pamela Gyon, said she wanted Bauers to be a part of the children's Christmas, so she invited her daughter to go shopping with her, despite the restraining order.
"That was my error," Pamela Gyon said. "She had a drug habit. I tried to help her as her mother, but drugs are more important."
Gyon, 57, said the restraining order was because her daughter had stolen her car, jewelry and husband's tools in the past. But Gyon thought her daughter had kicked her drug habit.
"When I think about it, there are a lot of signs she was back on drugs — agitation, very hyper, nervousness," Gyon said.
Gyon said her husband is fighting cancer and is on disability. He received his monthly disability check last week and Gyon went shopping for the grandkids. Gyon bought about $1,000 in presents for the children, intending to let Bauers give some of them to her two sons as if she had purchased them.
On Thursday night, after the shopping spree, Bauers slept over at the grandmother's home in the 100 block of Pecan Lane, in unincorporated St. Clair County. The next morning, the 4-year-old boy woke up, looking for his mother. Bauers was gone — and so was the grandmother's car full of gifts.
After Gyon called authorities, Bauers was found at a motel, preparing to leave in Gyon's 2000 Mercury Mountaineer.
"Sandra is driving, and in her right hand is a crack pipe," Johnson said. "She admits she sold all of the presents."
She sold some at a crack house, some at a combination pawnshop and liquor store in East St. Louis, and some on the street, Johnson said.
The gifts included children's toys, figurines, clothing, blankets and DVDs. Some of the toys were for Bauers' two kids; others were for four other young relatives.
Some of the stolen items were recovered from the pawnshop. Gyon said police returned three toy trucks and a few dragon figurines to her. She said she and her husband have limited incomes and she doesn't think they can afford to replace the presents.
Other charges, including for theft, are being reviewed.