It's a story that's made national headlines, if only for being so bizarre. Now, the mother and daughter involved are speaking only to WAAY 31.
A woman from Boaz was arrested over the weekend, and charged with child endangerment after her teenaged daughter was seen riding down the road in a cardboard box - on top of the family mini-van!
Albertville Police say Jackie Denise Knott of Boaz was arrested Saturday morning.
Officers say they received a call of a minivan traveling on Highway 431 with a large cardboard box on the roof, with a child inside the box.
Officers say they were able to stop the van on Hwy 431 near Tyson Foods and discovered a 13 year old female inside the box. Officers say when Knott was questioned about why the child was inside the box her reply was that "the box was too big to go inside the van and she would be able to hold it down if she was inside the box."
Officers say when asked about the safety of the child her reply was "that the box was tied to the van with a clothes hanger." Albertville Police Officer Jamie Smith is still in shock over the case. "It's one of those things when you've been doing this awhile.. you think you've seen everything. And then there's something new and then you go - 'haven't seen that one!'"
Knott was taken into custody for Endangering the Welfare of a Child and taken to the Albertville City Jail. The girl was turned over to a relative at the scene. Police say DHR will be notified on the incident.
Now, the woman and her daughter are speaking out - only to WAAY 31. Haley Henderson says her mom is a great parent, and takes full blame for what happened. "My mom told me 'No.' It was a bad idea and I did it anyways." Haley told WAAY 31's Tiffaney Bradley. She says the boxes were for an event at a local church. "I was going to a 30 hour phantom at Life Point Church in Albertville" Haley said. "We were not going to eat for thirty hours, and raise money for the hungry, and we were going to sleep outside in boxes. We already had two big boxes in the car and there was no room for the other one. "
Haley says she decided to put the third box on top of the family minivan but it wouldn't stay in place. Haley thought it would be fun to climb inside and use her body to weigh it down. That's an idea her mother now regrets. "We were going twenty miles per hour." Jackie Knott told WAAY 31. "We were going slow as possible. We almost were about a mile and a half from the church making it there I know don't it was just a bad decision."
Despite the bad decision, Haley says the incident is being blown out of proportion, and her mom doesn't deserve to be called a bad parent. "She's an awesome mom. I mean, everyone likes her and you ask anyone in our neigborhood. She's a good mom and she would never do anything wrong."
Only in Alabama could this happen.
A woman from Boaz was arrested over the weekend, and charged with child endangerment after her teenaged daughter was seen riding down the road in a cardboard box - on top of the family mini-van!
Albertville Police say Jackie Denise Knott of Boaz was arrested Saturday morning.
Officers say they received a call of a minivan traveling on Highway 431 with a large cardboard box on the roof, with a child inside the box.
Officers say they were able to stop the van on Hwy 431 near Tyson Foods and discovered a 13 year old female inside the box. Officers say when Knott was questioned about why the child was inside the box her reply was that "the box was too big to go inside the van and she would be able to hold it down if she was inside the box."
Officers say when asked about the safety of the child her reply was "that the box was tied to the van with a clothes hanger." Albertville Police Officer Jamie Smith is still in shock over the case. "It's one of those things when you've been doing this awhile.. you think you've seen everything. And then there's something new and then you go - 'haven't seen that one!'"
Knott was taken into custody for Endangering the Welfare of a Child and taken to the Albertville City Jail. The girl was turned over to a relative at the scene. Police say DHR will be notified on the incident.
Now, the woman and her daughter are speaking out - only to WAAY 31. Haley Henderson says her mom is a great parent, and takes full blame for what happened. "My mom told me 'No.' It was a bad idea and I did it anyways." Haley told WAAY 31's Tiffaney Bradley. She says the boxes were for an event at a local church. "I was going to a 30 hour phantom at Life Point Church in Albertville" Haley said. "We were not going to eat for thirty hours, and raise money for the hungry, and we were going to sleep outside in boxes. We already had two big boxes in the car and there was no room for the other one. "
Haley says she decided to put the third box on top of the family minivan but it wouldn't stay in place. Haley thought it would be fun to climb inside and use her body to weigh it down. That's an idea her mother now regrets. "We were going twenty miles per hour." Jackie Knott told WAAY 31. "We were going slow as possible. We almost were about a mile and a half from the church making it there I know don't it was just a bad decision."
Despite the bad decision, Haley says the incident is being blown out of proportion, and her mom doesn't deserve to be called a bad parent. "She's an awesome mom. I mean, everyone likes her and you ask anyone in our neigborhood. She's a good mom and she would never do anything wrong."
Only in Alabama could this happen.
