Return to Transcripts main page

Jane Velez-Mitchell

Cop Punches Woman after High-Speed Chase; What Was Fake Mom`s Motivation?

Aired January 24, 2011 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, a shocking end to a high-speed chase. A state trooper repeatedly punches a 53-year-old woman in the head. Cops say they raced after her speeding car and finally managed to trap her. But the trooper claims she was still trying to escape, revving her engine. So he hit her three times. Is this police brutality or a totally justified response?

Then the woman at the center of a 23-year-long kidnapping finally caught and dragged into court. You won`t believe her explanation as she confesses to snatching a baby from the hospital. And you won`t believe what else she`s saying.

Plus, new developments in the stomach-churning story of a 4-year-old boy whose grandmother says he got herpes after he found a used condom inside their hotel room. Now she`s suing that Atlanta hotel. I`ll talk to her tonight.

And police arrest a prominent California attorney after they say he filmed a teenaged girl and six women undressing inside a tanning salon. We`ll tell you how cops say he snuck a camera inside and how you can protect yourself from a high-tech peeping tom.

ISSUES starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARLA WRIGHT, PUNCHED BY OFFICER: I remember the smashing of the glass. I remember a black glove just coming through and hitting me and just smack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, is she a victim of savage police brutality? Or did she ask for it? That debate raging over a shocking, just-released video of a male police officer pummeling a 53-year-old woman -- you just heard from her -- in the face.

Utah state troopers say they tried to pull over Darla Wright for speeding and weaving. Instead of pulling over, she took off and led officers on a harrowing, high-speed chase. Well, they finally cornered her in a parking lot and trapped her vehicle between two police cruisers. Officers say Darla then ignored several demands to take her hands off the wheel.

Let`s listen to the end of this chase.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SIREN)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Cops swarming everywhere. You hear the shouting, the screaming, the sirens. Sergeant Andrew Davenport smashed his baton through Darla`s car window on the driver`s side and repeatedly punched her in the head. Davenport is on paid administrative leave, while his superiors decide if he did anything wrong.

Now, the cops admit striking her three times and that officer said he was absolutely justified. So why were a slew of charges against Darla, including DUI, dismissed?

What do you think? Justified force or not? Call me now: 1-877-JVM- SAYS. That`s 1-877-586-7297.

Straight out to former police detective John Lucich.

John, you have conducted hundreds of traffic stops. Give us your assessment of how this officer acted. Justified force or police brutality?

JOHN LUCICH, FORMER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR: Well, based on what I seen on the video, with her taking of and then having to slam into the car at the end to stop that vehicle from moving. She refuses to open up a -- her car door or car window. You have to smash it out.

From 1979, I was taught in the academy, you treat a lady or a gentleman like a lady or gentleman as long as they act like that. Once they stray from that, you need to stray from that in order to take them into custody.

I can`t see what`s going on inside that vehicle that causes the officer to do what he`s doing. But they will find that out in the investigation. Based on what I see, including that -- that chase, that officer was justified, based on what I see so far.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Sergeant Davenport wrote the incident report, describing why he felt it was necessary to punch Darla. Quote, "The suspect was still trying to escape. She had the accelerator floored, the engine revving in an attempt to push our vehicles out of the way. I delivered three closed-hand strikes to her head in an attempt to gain compliance with our command. I did this to distract and stun her and to stop her from trying to drive off and strike our vehicles and possibly run us over. The strikes worked, and we were able to grab her hands."

So he is completely unapologetic. He said he did the right thing. Now, Darla admitted to a reporter that she barely recalled any details about this chase. Or the arrest. Listen to her. Here`s all that she remembers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: I remember the smashing of the glass. I remember a black glove just coming through and hitting me, you know, just smack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So Rikki Klieman, criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, and I know you`re also married to a very, very famous former police chief. Is it possible that she was in a blackout? And if so, does that justify doing whatever, whatever is necessary to stop somebody from driving off in a blackout alcoholically and possibly killing someone?

RIKKI KLIEMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, she may have been in a blackout; she may not have been. We really don`t know. But the real question, Jane, is about the justification.

First of all, we have to remember that this police officer knows the camera is in his police car. So he knows that he is going to be on video.

Whatever the training is in this particular department, they will do a use of force investigation, and what they will find out is whether or not he followed the training, he followed the protocol. And there`s no reason for us to doubt him until that video is examined frame by frame and unless and until it`s proved that he has done something wrong.

You know, policing isn`t pretty, Jane. We know that. And policing often is very, very taxing on those officers, so he may have been totally justified.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, here`s the thing. Darla was arrested that night, and she was charged with driving under the influence. She was also charged with eluding police. She was charged with reckless driving, assault on a police officer, as well as resisting arrest. Officers also found prescription drugs in her car.

However, earlier this month, this case was dismissed. Why? Did they know Darla`s blood alcohol level? Why would police let all these charges go? I have to wonder, Pat Brown, criminal profiler, are they trying to perhaps discourage a lawsuit?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: It`s possible, but I think they are entirely justified. Let me put -- do a top (UNINTELLIGIBLE) breakdown on that video. First of all...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s look at it while you talk. Let`s roll it again.

BROWN: OK. The first thing this woman did was put the police and the public in danger by speeding around the way she was doing. And they protected the public by getting her cornered. They did a great job there.

The next thing is, when you stop somebody who is speeding away from you, someone that`s giving you a police chase, there`s a bunch of things involved. No. 1 is they don`t want the police to stop them. Why? Is it because there`s a warrant out --because they have drugs in the car? Is it because they have weapons in the car?

So now they`ve got her cornered. This woman is revving the engine. She refuses to open the door. She refuses to respond to anything. They`ve got two weapons -- she`s got two weapons there. No. 1 is her foot on that gas pedal and the second is she might have a gun right by her -- to the side of her. They have to get to her quickly to stop what she was doing and try not to get killed in the process. They were entirely justified.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jennifer, Florida, your question or thought, ma`am?

CALLER: Yes, my question is they pull her over to a DWI. At that point they`re not threatened, like you know, they don`t think -- they don`t know if they have any weapons or anything. They teach men not to hit women. And he flies over there. They say yes, she`s got the accelerator floored, but she can`t go anywhere. And she wasn`t threatening them in any way. I mean, I would be scared, too. I would be trying to get out of the man`s way.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I think you raise an important point here, because I think in order to really understand this video, let`s put it this way. You understand it one way if you believe the police officer`s account.

Then again, if you don`t believe the police officer`s account, it could say something else entirely. You`d think police would be less inclined to go overboard, knowing, as Rikki Klieman said, there are dash cams. Their actions are being recorded.

Now, dash-cam videos have helped get some officers into trouble, but they can also work in their favor. They exonerate them often from false charges of abuse.

So here`s my question: does the video in this case show Darla was resisting arrest? Or does it only show that, if you believe the officer`s claims of her foot remaining on the accelerator and her hands on the steering wheel, even after police cars had sandwiched her in, that she`s resisting. OK, we don`t see her hands or her foot. We do see the officer`s fist flying inside the driver`s-side window.

So my question to Dr. Janet Taylor, psychiatrist, how do we put this into context without blindly accepting the officer`s contention that he was resisting? OK. The only thing I can imagine is, if other officers can testify they also heard the engine revving, that would tend to exonerate him. But if you look at the video without that explanation that she -- that she was revving the engine and had her hands on the steering well, you could see somebody as just pent up, unleashing on this suspect.

DR. JANET TAYLOR, PSYCHIATRIST: This is not a gender issue. It`s really a danger issue, and policing is danger work. And there could have been someone else in the car. The police officer didn`t know that.

But I think the real question is, was excessive force used? You know, definitely policing is stressful, and maybe this was just an angry human, and his force and his punching her was really in response to testosterone going, and in fact, he was really angry that she didn`t stop and listen to his commands.

BROWN: Well, wait a minute. I don`t think this is -- this isn`t excessive force. All this man did was punch her rather than shoot her in the head, which is what he would have to do if she made any sudden moves. So he was actually protecting this woman from getting something a lot worse.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And look, we saw her face. She wasn`t disfigured in any way. She obviously recovered.

Everyone stay right there. We are taking your calls on this: 1-877- JVM-SAYS. That`s 1-877-586-7297.

Plus, that amazing reunion after a baby that is stolen 23 years ago. Now, could the alleged kidnapper have done all this to keep her druggie boyfriend? She`s in court. We`re going to show you.

And more on the outrageous story of a trooper who punched a 3-year-old woman during a traffic stop, but it was after a chase.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: How many other people has it happened -- has that happened to? You know? And no, it should not ever happen to anybody again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, Sheeba, Illinois. OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SIRENS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A woman gets pummeled by a cop after leading him on a high-speed chase. Did he cross the line or was this suspect asking for it? You`ve got to ask yourself, why do these people run?

Let`s take a look at that car chase last week. I mean, here`s a high- speed chase. We`re going to show you this video. This one ends up, take a look at this. OK, this guy just risking so many lives. There is nothing more dangerous than a high-speed chase in terms of putting innocent civilians at risk. It`s right up there with walking around with an Uzi sub machine gun.

This person then ends up running, and why he runs we don`t know, because they always get caught. And this guy runs into a McDonald`s. All right. That is such a -- such a bizarre end to a chase, but of course as they always do, he gets caught.

So my question, Pat Brown, criminal profiler, why do these people run? Why do they drive off when a cop stops them when they have to know they`re in so much more trouble the second they put their foot on that accelerator?

BROWN: Well, they don`t want to go to jail, Jane. That`s the No. 1 issue. They think they can get away. Remember these guys are psychopathic. They`re very impressed with their own abilities. They think they can press on that gas pedal. They can speed out of there. If nothing else they can ditch the car and run like heck. And I have to say, sometimes they do succeed and get away, because I`ve seen that with ride- alongs, as I`ve done that occasionally. Yes, they do get a way, I`m sorry.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Really? Because I -- I mean, for -- I don`t know how many -- at least 2 1/2 decades -- well, maybe they didn`t have chases back when I started. But ever since they had choppers with live cameras and I`ve been covering news, I have covered so many car chases.

And I can tell you, I have never covered a car chase where I have seen the suspect get away, especially by the time that the TV choppers get above, because they have an aerial view, no matter where the guy goes.

BROWN: Well, it depends where you are and who has these great choppers. Because I know in my town, I don`t see the choppers coming out with every -- with every police chase. They just simply chase them down. Or lose them, one or the other. And they do their best, but they don`t always catch them, and they know that. Especially if they can run into the next district, across from like Maryland into Washington, D.C., with their stolen vehicle. And you know, that`s what they`re trying to do.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I respectfully disagree. I would say not -- at least 99 percent of the time they get caught.

I mean, John Lucich, what do you think?

LUCICH: No, I`ve been in many chases, high-speed chases, and a lot of times they do get away. And I`ll tell you why. There`s so much pressures on -- pressure on police officers today to end that chase, because the longer it goes on, people die. We`ve actually seen people run through a red light, hit a family of four, kill a family of four. And it goes on and on and on.

And all of a sudden everyone wants to come back to blame the cop.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well...

LUCICH: And the cop has a reason to chase this guy, who`s taking off. God forbid we have another little girl in the trunk or something like that. That cop had no idea why they`re running. He wants to stop them.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me say this. OK? I worked as a news anchor in Los Angeles for 12 years, and I covered I don`t know how many police chases, and never once, by the time the cameras and the choppers got to that chase, did anybody ever get away.

LUCICH: You`re talking about...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I think maybe we`re talking about chases that didn`t get police attention. Because once the police know that that televised chopper is there, they`re not going to let that person run away. And never once have I seen a televised chase end with a suspect getting away.

LUCICH: That`s few and far -- that`s few and far between, Jane, and the reason being is that not every department has resources such as a helicopter. I worked in Jersey. We`ve been involved in many chases and never on any of the chases I`ve been involved in in my whole career has a chopper ever showed up to help us.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, I was talking, actually, about TV news choppers. But, yes, it`s a police chopper and the TV news choppers, either/or.

Sheba in Illinois, your question or thought, ma`am?

CALLER: Hi, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.

CALLER: My thought on this is I would much see him have to slap her around a little bit to get her attention like you have to a mule than for him to be laying out on that pavement with a bullet in his head.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I agree with you 100 percent. Now yes, I want to say flat off, I am a huge fan of police. They put their lives on the line, and they really risk their own lives and go to very dangerous situations every single day. My hat`s off to them.

But here`s my big issue. There is an adrenaline rush factor. Officers in high-speed chases get their juices flowing. Any human would. They get worked up. I imagine it would be incredibly hard to control yourself to keep from jumping out of a cruiser and -- and racing up to the person feeling aggressive when this is the person who caused you to risk your life in this chase, possibly risking other people`s lives.

Check out this suspect that we`re going to show you in a second on a motorcycle. All you see is the cops` fists flying in his direction. We`ll try to show you that one more time. This chase had ended at this point and this individual was on the ground. And yet you see in this case, the cops pummeling the guy.

So my question to Rikki Klieman is where exactly do you draw the line between justifiable force and brutality when a chase has ended?

KLIEMAN: Well, of course, Jane, it`s always an adrenaline rush. I mean, everything is teaming at that time. What you do have now in almost all police departments are very, very good use of force investigations.

As you noted, you were in L.A. I was married to the former L.A. police chief, and they had, probably, some of the best use-of-force investigators in the country. And there are a lot of high-speed chases.

So the question is, was it in protocol? Was it within the training? Is it an appropriate response? They not only review the videos; they re- enact them. They have models of them. They go look, it takes six to eight months to come to a conclusion of whether something like this was in protocol.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you. Got to leave it right there.

KLIEMAN: And this may well have been just fine.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you, Rikki, and when that conclusion comes in, we will bring it to you, ISSUES viewers.

All right. Thank you, panel.

She says her 4-year-old grandson got herpes after he found a used condom inside their hotel and put it in his mouth. And now she is suing. I`m going to talk to her live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DET. KEITH BRYANT, BRIDGEPORT POLICE DEPARTMENT: Our detectives from our detective bureau responded, but to follow up, to confirm, in fact, if it was her or not, they determined based on -- in this video that it was, in fact, her.

Well, she does have family here in the city of Bridgeport, and you know, this is a place where she`s familiar with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, stunning new information about the woman accused of kidnapping a baby from a Harlem, New York, hospital way back in 1987 and then pretending to be the baby`s mom for 23 long years.

Ann Pettway turned herself in, and cops say she admitted the whole thing, that she took the baby Carlina White all those years ago, because she suffered a miscarriage and wanted a child. But was it also a desperate attempt to hang onto her drug-dealer boyfriend.

Nineteen-year-old [SIC] Carlina White vanished from the hospital with a woman posing as a nurse. And now cops believe that nurse was Pettway. Cops say she admitted taking the baby to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and pretending it was her own.

Straight out to "In Session`s" Jean Casarez from our sister network, TruTV.

Jean, you`re tracking all this. What`s the breaking news about this suspect`s possible motivation?

JEAN CASAREZ, TRUTV`S "IN SESSION": It could be to keep a man, very simple. Her cousin is speaking out, saying that she was pregnant -- and I`m talking about Ann -- in the summer of 1987. And then she lost the baby. But she disappeared for a couple of months from this drug-dealing boyfriend, came back with a baby, so the motivation was to keep him as that boyfriend.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hmm, that`s wild. The kidnapping victim, Carlina White, is now 23, and I think as the world knows by now, she`s been reunited with her family. They say she never, ever gave up hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT CONWAY, CARLINA`S GODMOTHER: Carlina was a missing link, and we have gotten her back. In the name of Jesus, hallelujah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now, "The New York Post" is reporting the suspect, Ann Pettway, was pregnant in 1987, the very year Carlina was snatched. Court documents show Pettway says she had a miscarriage just before the child was taken. So she simply fits the profile of a woman desperate for a child, and stats show the perpetrator of an infant kidnapping is usually a childless woman.

So my big question: what happens to this Pettway woman now?

CASAREZ: Well, what now? Federally, kidnapping charge. She has been charged with one count in a federal complaint that was filed today. And it says that she confessed to FBI agents everything, that she showed remorse, acceptance of responsibility.

And her attorney came out after her initial court appearance today and said that, once everybody knows the full story, that it will make a lot more sense, and people will understand what she did and why she did it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now friends of this -- and relatives of Ann Pettway say, "Well, we didn`t know, because she disappeared for two months, and when she came back, she had a child." And the lesson here is, when a woman disappears for two months and is not pregnant and then comes back two months later and is pregnant, be suspicious -- Jean.

CASAREZ: Right. And that is what`s going to be used in court. All of this evidence -- witness statements, photographs, the DNA -- all of this will be used by federal prosecutors, even though she has confessed. It doesn`t mean they`re not going to be building their case, because she now has an attorney that may decide that this confession is something that can`t come into court.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, five seconds. How long could she do in terms of time?

CASAREZ: Life in prison.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. Life in prison? Even though she confessed and turned herself in. Well, she did something awful. She destroyed a family...

CASAREZ: Sure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... for a long, long time. Twenty-three years, got to leave it there. Jean, thank you, as always.

An update on the 4-year-old boy who allegedly contracted an STD after he found a used condom in a hotel. We`re going to talk to his grandma.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: New developments in the stomach-churning story of a four-year-old boy whose grandmother says he got herpes after he found a used condom inside their hotel room. Now she`s suing that Atlanta hotel. I`ll talk to her tonight.

And police arrest a prominent California attorney after they say he filmed a teenage girl and six women undressing inside a tanning salon. We`ll tell you how cops say he snuck a camera inside and how you can protect yourself from a high-tech peeping tom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARMEN JONES, CHILD`S GRANDMOTHER: I ran out the bathroom and my grandson had a condom in his mouth. I mean his tongue was in the condom and, you know, he was trying to blow it up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, a grandmother`s hotel horror leads to a massive lawsuit. I have to warn you, the details are -- they`re sickening. Carmen Jones was showering in her Wyndham hotel room in downtown Atlanta. She left her four-year-old grandson playing in the hotel room.

She says when she stepped out of the bathroom, she saw the four-year- old boy, a toddler, had something in his mouth. With complete and utter horror, she realized it was a condom. The boy thought it was a balloon and was trying to blow it up.

Now that stomach-churning moment has turned into a living nightmare for Carmen and her little grandson. This innocent four-year-old reportedly contracted oral herpes and has endured months of hell. His family says he has been sick since August and has become isolated from his friends and family.

His grandma is suing mad and we`re delighted that she is joining us right here on ISSUES tonight.

Straight out to Carmen Jones and she`s joining us with her attorney Tom Jones. Carmen, if you can, try to tell us what have you been through? What has this experience been like the past six months?

JONES: Thank you first of all for having us on.

It has been horrific for the entire family, including my grandson. It is -- our whole life has been shattered. Horrific, my grandson still has many outbreaks. And it`s, you know, it`s followed with high fevers and not able to hold anything down, missing school; not being able to enjoy life.

And for all of us; for myself as well as my grandson, his parents, we`re all very devastated. We`re all living a nightmare, it`s just horrific -- just a horrific situation.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have to ask you about this hotel situation. Because presumably, you had just moved into the hotel room and this thing, this condom was from a previous person, previous customer. It was in the bed sheets? I mean don`t they change the bed sheets? How did this happen? I don`t understand.

JONES: That`s what I would like to know. That`s what I say. I say the same thing, because the next -- that morning, there were several signs that the whole room was not clean. I mean there were just -- there were no clean cups, the sheets didn`t feel clean, and that`s what, you know, we would like to know, what exactly happened. Apparently they didn`t clean the room like they were supposed to.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I just want to say that the hotel in question is not responding, they say they`re not talking because a lawsuit is pending. But they are invited on our show any time to tell their side of the story. We do want to get both sides.

Let me ask you this, since this incident occurred and this was back, I think, in August, this little boy has had, as you say, recurring lesions in his mouth and you say vomiting and fever. Let`s listen to this for a second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Like little white blisters all on the -- it was on the top of his mouth, on his tongue, inside the mouth, inside the lip, the bottom lip. It was all over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now Carmen, you say as a result of this, he`s been alienated from family and friends and they`re afraid to visit him? Is that possible? A four-year-old boy?

JONES: Yes, ma`am. Yes. You know, they have fear that their child may contract something and, you know, they`re afraid for their child. So they stay away. And there are friends that we just don`t see anymore and some family members that are really concerned about their child`s well- being. So we don`t see them.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Does the little boy understand any of this? He`s too young, he`s four, too young to understand what a condom is, what it`s used for. Does he know why his friends aren`t visiting?

JONES: No, he doesn`t. He just --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What do you tell him?

JONES: I tell him that they`re in school and that they`re really busy and, you know, hopefully we`ll see them soon.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But is it taking its toll on you and the little boy?

JONES: Yes, ma`am, on our entire family. On my grandson, and his parents; it`s very hard for his mother and father to even discuss it, to even talk about it. It`s a lot of anger and yes, it`s still very emotional, very upsetting to even address it, to talk about it because we live it. And it`s, like I said, it`s the worst thing I have ever had to deal with and still dealing with.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Tom Jones, you`re the attorney for Carmen Jones and the boy`s family.

TOM JONES, ATTORNEY FOR CARMEN JONES: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: There are treatments for oral herpes, millions and millions and millions of Americans have oral herpes and many of them take a pill called Valtrex. Has he taken any medication that could prevent outbreaks because there are pills that do prevent outbreaks?

T. JONES: Well, of course, he is of a very young age and the herpes continue to be a problem for him. Not only is it the herpes, but the possibility of other much more serious sexually transmitted diseases going forward.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What do you mean by that?

T. JONES: We don`t know what was in the condom. Because of the wrongful acts of the hotel staff in taking the condom and we believe destroying it, we don`t know what diseases may have been involved. And at this point, we cannot test fully for everything.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me ask you this, though, a straight forward question, is he taking medication to control the outbreaks?

C. JONES: He is not taking -- he has oral medication.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, the pills, Valtrex?

C. JONES: He`s not on that, he`s not on the more -- medication that you`re describing because the doctor had stated that it had, you know, serious side effects to it and because of his age that they would just prefer to wait because it has serious side effects.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Like what?

C. JONES: They were saying as far as it could, you know, drowsiness, vomiting even more, loss of hair and those are the things that I can remember.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok, this is an emotional roller coaster for this family. Carmen says friends and family are not visiting this innocent child, this innocent little boy because they`re afraid of his condition. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

C. JONES: When the cold sores were active and he wanted to give me a kiss, especially in the hospital and I said, no, sweetie, you know, not in the mouth, you can`t kiss mommy, and he`s like, mommy, you don`t love me anymore? And so it was very, very hurtful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Carmen, can`t you say something to these friends and family members? Hey, this little boy, it`s not his fault. Visit him.

C. JONES: I do say that repeatedly and I tell them to follow -- you know, to read about it, read about the information and that`s all I can do. You know, I just -- it`s sad, I mean it`s just like when there were other diseases that came out and people were ignorant to how you could -- you know, get the disease and how it can be transferred.

And so until people understand that just, you know, without any kind of physical contact or, you know, they need to read about the, you know, how he can contract it or they can contract it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: My big issue tonight, proof positive, after Carmen saw her grandson playing with this condom, she called hotel security, the manager came into the room and then insisted on removing the condom and throwing it away. Listen to this.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know why a condom would be in a room that was supposed to be cleaned?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I don`t.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The family says they showed the condom to your assistant general manager, is that not true?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is, there was a condom there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Lisa Bloom, your thoughts on this suit?

LISA BLOOM, BLOOMFIRM.COM: Wow, ok, first of all my law firm does a lot of negligence cases like this and to me this is a slam dunk both on liability and damages. Meaning this is a slam dunk that she`s going to win at trial, I think, because the hotel clearly has an obligation to provide a clean room without a used condom in it and they`re going to be responsible for all the boy`s damages, his medical costs, his therapy, et cetera. I don`t know why they`re allowing this to get this far. I don`t know why the hotel hasn`t settled this one.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. It`s heart breaking and you`re saying, Lisa, that a lot of these suits occur -- I mean -- this is a shocker to me that you could find a condom in a hotel room that`s supposed to be fresh.

BLOOM: And it`s foreseeable that a four-year-old is going to pick something up and put it in his mouth. We could say that he shouldn`t, of course he shouldn`t, but that`s the thing the law expects a child to do. And the hotel is responsible for the contents of the room, for the cleanliness of the room.

So I can`t believe they`re letting this get this far, I don`t know what they`re thinking. I really don`t but eventually this is going to settle or get a big verdict at trial, I would say.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Carmen, please come back. Keep us posted on this lawsuit --

C. JONES: Thank you for having us.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- we want justice for your grandson.

C. JONES: Thank you.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Best of luck to your family.

C. JONES: Thank you so much, thank you for having us.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: He got a once in a lifetime opportunity, but the man with the golden voice, you won`t believe what he`s done now -- it`s a shocker.

And a peeping tom at a tanning salon -- we`re going to tell you how this happened according to cops and how you can protect yourself. I want to hear from you on this -- peeping toms at the tanning salon of all places -- call me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: How did an alleged peeping tom spying on his unknown victims? That`s next.

But first the "Top of the Block" tonight. Listen to this from Dr. Phil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED WILLIAMS: I just want to make sure that I don`t blow it.

DR. PHIL MCGRAW: You blow this --

WILLIAMS: I blow this, I die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ted Williams, the man with the golden voice admitted to Dr. Phil he is an addict. Now less than two weeks after Ted checked into rehab for drug and alcohol dependency, get this, sources tell TMZ, the former homeless man has walked out of his rehab program prematurely today and headed to the airport.

Ted, sobriety is a struggle. I`m a recovering alcoholic, I know. But you just threw away a once in a lifetime opportunity for a sober, dignified life. Dude, you said it yourself, you blow this, you die. Is it worth it, Ted?

If you`re watching, do not stay out there. I`m begging you. Get back to rehab tonight, while you still can. And that`s tonight`s "Top of the Block".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRACI JORDAN, FORMER SALON OWNER: I`m very happy that he`s been arrested. It`s been a long ordeal and I`m sure all the people that were involve are glad that he was arrested too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight a disgusting, perverted invasion of privacy. Cops said they found hidden cameras in a tanning salon installed for the sole purpose of catching naked women and underage girls. You will not believe who cops say put up the cameras -- a prominent local attorney.

Cops say he had been watching 43-year-old David Kay for months on end. There he is, there`s the prominent local attorney and he visited the tanning salon three to four times a week. But you know what? He doesn`t look very tan. Isn`t that strange?

Maybe that`s because he was busy doing something else, like peering over the tops of the tanning booths and snapping pictures of naked women. At least that`s what cops claim he was doing. Now after customers reportedly complained about a man with a camera, cops put a sting operation into place and they allegedly caught this guy secretly videotaping women and at least one underage teenage girl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. CRAIG CARTER, RECONDIDO POLICE DEPT: There was a 15-year-old victim that was videotaped and trying to find these victims was the biggest problem we had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Cops say they don`t even know how many victims there are out there. A lot of people come and go to a tanning salon. How will we ever know who was caught on tape?

After searching the suspect`s home and office, they also charged this high profile lawyer with possession of child pornography. Police say that`s because one of the videotaped girls was underage.

Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS. That`s 1-877-586-7297. I want your opinion on this.

Straight out to attorney, Lisa Bloom; Lisa, I really can`t get over the fact that this guy is a respected attorney who practices family law.

BLOOM: Oh, Jane, get over it. Attorneys can be just as bad as everyone else. In fact if it`s possible to lower the public view of the profession, I guess this guy has done it.

And you know, sentences are usually very short for these kind of peeping tom cases. Remember the Erin Andrews case -- he only got a year and a half, but because there`s an underage girl, he may get a lot longer.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And you have to wonder how many people were allegedly videotaped. Because that`s the problem; anyone who`s ever gone to the salon is going to wonder possibly for the rest of their lives, am I on camera naked? And how could that be used? Could that be perhaps put out on the Internet?

Rhonda Saunders, you`re a stalking expert and this is something that`s going to haunt a lot of people. And actually it`s made me wonder, every time I walk in any private space bathroom, I`m wondering, is there a camera going on?

RHONDA SAUNDERS, STALKING EXPERT: Absolutely. People should be very aware that nowadays, their privacy can be compromised in many ways. I mean there`s actually statutes on the book that covers being videotaped in bathrooms, in tanning salons, in changing rooms. So you have to be more aware of your surroundings and be aware that this type of thing actually goes on.

I mean what kind of a world do we live in that we need statutes like that? But it`s happening.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And apparently, people -- I`ve gone went into tanning salons and I swear I never took all my clothes off. I didn`t but apparently a lot of people do. A lot of women take their clothes off, it`s like going to a nude beach almost and they can relax and get a full body tan with no tan lines.

And maybe he was looking for those people specifically, because if you`re charged with child pornography, chances are it`s not for a photo of a girl who has all her clothes on, John Lucich.

JOHN LUCICH, FORMER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR: Absolutely. You know, these perverts just don`t come as attorneys. There`s doctors, there`s lawyers, there`s rabbis and priests, all of these people have been taken down. When you take a look at northern New Jersey we actually had a college where somebody dropped off a duffel bag.

So I agree with Lisa, you`ve got to be aware of your surroundings. Inside the duffel bag, was a camera that was recording the young men in the locker room.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, I mean, I`ve got to ask, Rhonda Saunders, you`re a prosecutor and a stalking expert. What I have to ask you is: what`s the technology today? Because I always thought, well, you at least have to have some connection to the facility to put a camera and walk away. But you`re saying anybody can drop a camera and walk away and then somehow record what`s going on and then take that tape? How do you do that without being there all the time and maybe owning the facility?

There is the lawyer, by the way, in the back of the squad car. Look at him. Rhonda?

SAUNDERS: Yes. That`s the whole problem with today`s technology. It is not the just cameras. You could use a cell phone and use the video on that. People are holding those video cameras and cell phones underneath doors of changing rooms, in bathrooms. The thing is, if there are cameras being put in that tanning salon, somebody had to have seen something because that would take some time to do that. So I`m just wondering --

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Isn`t it ironic that now he doesn`t want his picture taken. Oh, no, don`t take my -- sorry, you got a mug shot, dude. We are back and more with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELE RINGO, REPORTER, KGTV: Police say David Kay recorded some of his victims here at the tanning place which is now closed. But after reviewing the videotape, they now believe that he videotaped unsuspecting women at more than one location.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tracking allegations (INAUDIBLE) about a San Diego attorney. He is accused of videotaping several women and at least one 15- year-old girl in private tanning salon booths, undressed and cops are looking for additional victims. How do they find out whether there are any additional victims, John?

LUCICH: Well, what they`re going to do is going to get -- they have more than enough to get probable cause to get into his house and into his office, seize all those computers out of there. They will be able to look at every image whether it is still on the computer or have been deleted.

And you know one of the things that`s really bad about the technology today -- the good part is it helps us do our job better but the fact is they are getting smaller. They actually have these pinhole cameras now that you place anywhere. They`re cameras that are in the head of a pin -- or excuse me in a pen -- that you can just stick on the floor. Nobody`s going to notice that and do all your videotaping. Technology makes it easier to secrete these things inside walls and on the floor.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely. John Lucich, I was at the airport and I stopped into a -- I think it was a Brook Stone or Sharper Image. And there was right, right in a pen. And it was, oh wow, I could buy that and look at this, I could videotape anybody holding up the pen like this. Here`s my big issue.

(CROSSTALK)

LUCICH: Up to three hours of recording and voice, absolutely.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Go ahead.

SAUNDERS: It used to be that you had to go to spy shops and places like that to get the advanced technology. And now it`s available on the Internet. You can get anything -- those pin cameras, anything. So I think we have to be responsible for looking around, seeing if anything is suspicious, because these kinds of things are going on and we`re seeing it more and more with the technology that`s out there.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Joe, New York, your question or thought. Hey Joe.

JOE, NEW YORK (via telephone): I have a question. Where is the owner of the tanning salon during all of this? I have a family friend who owns a tanning salon and it is -- they make people sign in by name to make sure there are not a lot of underage kids coming in for that reason. This guy, and you said it yourself, it doesn`t look like he tans at all. I mean doesn`t that throw off a red flag?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: For months, cops say they knew what this guy was doing but they actually need more evidence. So probably they let this guy come back. Listen to the former owner of this tanning salon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORDAN: He would come in probably three or four times a week, quite frequently.

If they weren`t there and he showed up, we had to manage to keep him in rooms away from other clients. That was our busiest time of year. So it was really hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This guy was first arrested back in April and charged with four misdemeanors and then in July, cops served a search warrant and got more evidence. Now he`s charged with 15 felonies.

Lisa Bloom, did they have to let this go on for so long?

BLOOM: No. And that`s the problem I have, you know, this is really a violation for women. A lot of people laugh that oh, they got her on camera naked at a tanning salon. But for women like Erin Andrews and others who have talked out publicly about this, it is really almost like a rape. It is a real violation.

And that`s why law has to catch up with the technology that you talked about, the little itty-bitty cameras. The law doesn`t recognize how serious damage this can be for women. And I think a year and a half is not enough. For this guy there`ll be multiple counts so he could be looking a significantly longer time.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: These photos could show up anywhere. They could destroy their careers. It is a mess.

Thank you panel. Hold on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Are you an addict and don`t even know it? And by the way, who is your pusher? Eight days until my new book, "Addict Nation", hits the stand.

Up next, surveillance video captures 15-year-old teen girl`s violent abduction. What happened to Elizabeth Ennen? Nancy Graces starts now.

END