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Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009 | 5:40 p.m.
Emmanuel Dozier
The mother of three children removed from a Seven Hills home where three police officers were shot Dec. 28 has been charged with abuse and neglect of those children.
The three children were originally ordered to be returned to their mother, Belinda Saavedra, pending her passage of a drug test and the certification of their Panorama Ridge Drive home as safe. However, Saavedra's attorney Vicki Greco said the district attorney's office had filed an objection, although Saavedra's drug test had been returned negative.
"The complaint stems from the fact that she didn't have a job and can't support the children, and she should have known what (resident Emmanuel Dozier) was allegedly involved in," Greco said. "She's not charged with physical abuse or malnourishment."
Meanwhile, the children remain at Child Haven, and Emmanuel Dozier's court appearance originally slated for Monday was postponed until 9 a.m. Wednesday. He is charged with three counts of attempted murder of a police officer and three counts of selling cocaine. He is being held at the Clark County Detention Center on more than $3 million bail.
Saavedra has two upcoming Family Court hearings: one at 9:30 Wednesday on the original recommendation and another at 10 a.m., Thursday on the abuse and neglect allegation.
Greco defended her client, noting the 12- and 13-year-olds were honor roll students, and the three-month old baby was fine as well.
"They were happy children," she said. "None of the reports suggested any drug charges with any type of knowledge on my client's behalf."
Metro Police Sgt. Charles Collingwood, officer James Causey and officer Patrick Ledbetter were wounded by gunfire during a raid of the home Dec. 28. All had been released from University Medical Center by Tuesday, police said. No further information about the officers was released.
Dave Clark can be reached at 990-2677 or dave.clark@hbcpub.com.
Good, keep these kids away from this mother at all costs. They sound like good kids and I am sure they will do better in a stable, drug-free environment. This woman needs to get a job and get her life together for the sake of her children. Hopefully, they will not return the children to her until she has cleaned up her act and proven that she is a good mother.
This woman sounds like she's very guilty of making poor decisions and choices - given their environment if these kids are in fact honor students I can only imagine the heights they could reach if living in a stable home - it says a lot when kids are living in these conditions and still manage to remain honor students - it only makes me think how much greater their potential for success would be if they were living in a more stable home.
Metro and the drug war nazis will stop at nothing to save face in what was essentially a botched raid where no drugs were found. Starrynite, have you followed this case at all? The children WERE in a drug-free environment and this is malicious prosecution at its worst. All of this, for what? Are we really as gullible as police and prohibitionists think we are? Do they really think their efforts keep one single person from using or abusing drugs? What a waste of our tax money.
I'm with Lenny_V & Dirk on this one ... using that criteria how many other Clark County families are now on the Clark County Child Stealers' waiting list to have their children seized? Is chronic unemployment and eviction going to now qualify families to lose their kids??
And since when is the presence of "drugs" alone an excuse for "endangerment"?? What adults do in private without hurting anyone else is NOT a legitimate government interest.
When the state removes children the legal fees alone BEFORE the first formal court hearing can easily run $20,000 +. And most attorneys just tend to try to make a deal with the child stealers, court-appointed or not. Greco seems to actually take her job seriously for this family and putting up a fight.
It appears the DA AND the state family gestapo have too much funding. The appropriate cuts should reprogram back to dealing ONLY with REAL endangerment cases.
Could someone please give Manny a piece of raw meat to put over that shiner.
What it sounds like to me is just an excuse to keep things covered up for them. She had no job , what kind of excuse is that? There are plenty mothers out here without jobs that collect cash assistance from the state so are the courts going to go into their home and take their kids cause they have no job?? As far as all the reports and papers have noted is that he was employed so how do we know she knew he was allegedly dealing, and if she did who cares it does not make her a bad mother in the least bit.
Huh? Kids healthy and apparently happy and smart,Mother drug free but without a job. LOCK HER UP AND THROW AWAY THE KEY! These bumbling keystone cops started a chain reaction of having this woman's children taken a way and dragged through this whole ordeal by their glaring incompetance. Watch out, you may be next.
...it takes only a few brain cells to get this one...it'll make the District Attorney's case that much more easy...not only is he a 'drug dealer' and a 'cop killer,' he and his girlfriend are child abusers...convict him of attempted murder please Mr & Ms Juror...
for the last comment your hilarious. Lets use common sense here, no drugs in were found in the house so why would he shot at cops if he knew that is who they were. They said he sold three times to an undercover each sell was 180.00 , that's barely any time at all really. So why shot the police and chance murder charges with life in prison. As far as your comment of abuse no-one ever stated that those kids were physically abused it's just a way for the cops to cover up their wrong doing and brain washed naive individuals like you believe them.
This perp probably did sell drugs but the bottom line is Metro blew this raid from the get go and now they are trying to muddy the water to cover up their incompetence. With the right attorney the City of Las Vegas will pay big on this one.
justice for all.......really, really, is that the way you believe this is going down.
Man, I gotta tell you something, and this is serious, you have either watched way too many bad TV cop shows or have an imagination that gets hyped up when you take your little "trips".
Reality works very much differently. What we need you to do is step away from the keyboard, get a job and become a productive member of society and not a leach.
I am laughing at you getalife because just as I am typing on the keyboard so are you but needless to say I pay taxes every two weeks out of my paycheck and am a very productive member of society... Don't judge or speak on what you do not know. I can pretty much guarantee my level of knowledge and education exceeds yours.As for you the reality is you rely to much on a justice system that has just as many criminals as the streets!!!!
Justice,
Life is not static, the police are out doing their jobs, the politicians and whiners are out cutting the deals and screwing the pooch.
Children need to grow up in a stable environment. If mom is living off a man that is selling drugs, then by default she is putting her kids in a dangerous situation. The fact is not about her being "jobless" but about her depending on a man that is a drug dealer for money. What consenting adults do in their spare time with drugs is fine, but if you bring kids into the mix, then everything changes. FYI I grew up in a home where drugs were rampant and I was removed from the home three times before I was 12 yrs old and I can tell you from experience that I loved my foster homes and cried when we were returned to my mother. My mother did not work most of the time and relied on men to take care of her and it sets a horrible example for the children.
Children that live in this environment watch the mother basically prostitute herself everyday by taking money from a man and not working. She is more inclined to let him completely run the house because she does not contribute to the living expenses. All of this under the watchful eyes of children is just wrong!
Children should never, ever be around drugs.
Metro did an awesome job of dealing with this case and they risked their lives to get a drug dealer off the streets!
All of the posters that find fault with Metro and this case should think about how many times they lay their life on the line for the safety of citizens of Las Vegas! I am proud of Metro and the judge that took these kids out of a dangerous situation and gave them a chance at some type of normalcy and security.
As a teacher I can tell you that children that live with drugs or drug dealers drown in the drama that surrounds their lives. They deserve to play, swing and enjoy their childhoods.
The DA is just trying to bolster it's case by going after this woman. The police didn't fine any drugs in the home. Next maybe they will knock first before they break into someones home.
I think the kids were removed because drugs were being dealt from inside the home - or at least that's what was reported earlier. If this is in fact true then the kids should definitely be removed from that environment. I seem to recall a case where some 'fake' drugs were dealt by a mother who subsequently lost one child and another was paralyzed when those who were 'stiffed' with the bad drugs came directly to the home for retribution - and the scumbag mother was at the bar and her kids paid the price. Anytime drugs are involved the kids need to be kept as far away from that environment as possible. I'd rather err on the side of being extra cautious (removing the kids) VS giving the benefit of the doubt (leaving kids in the house). It will all come out in the wash as to whether or not this jerk of a boyfriend was dealing from within the home or not and that will be the time to determine whether or not it's safe for the kids to be returned to their mother or not.
you know people say things and they get twisted around.... wheres the proof that dozier sold to undercovers?? where the proof of drugs in thier home?? wheres the proof that these children were neglected and abused?? maybe its a good thing she isnt a working mother because it proves she has taken the time for her children who are obviously honor roll students. they didnt become honor roll students by being in a drug enviornment and having no guidence or stability at home......thats for sure!!!!! i am a single mother without a JOB.. does that make me a bad person?? or are you going to judge me and automatically assume i am a prostitute or a drug dealer because my boyfriend supports me and my children?? i think there is more to this story that we all dont know, not to mention the mother nor dozier have NEVER been convicted or charged with anything drug related... normally when police are entering a home they identifiy themselves as police officers where was that in this case??and i cant say my reaction would have been any different when my children come running to me and my husband crying that thier was someone breaking into my home, not to mention the timing...(holidays)... or the fact that thier has been so many home invasions in las vegas every night on the news, so my heart goes out to this family and may god bless them. i hope to see in the future that this family is compensated for all the mental anguish that these police officers have put them through.i also hope to see that none of them have to work again in thier LIFETIME after this!!!!!!!!!!!! L>A>W>S>U>I>T!!!!!:)
I am so sad to read the responses of those who chant "TAKE HER KIDS, TAKE HER KIDS". You have no idea what you are saying. One day it could very well be you scrambling to explain things that don't need to be explained, praying to be seen as fit while the rest of America goes on believing you are no kind of parent.
I think of other cases, where the abuse was real (Baby Grace here in Texas recently). Where no drugs were even suspected nor present. But she is very much dead. Sometimes we are looking under the wrong rock. Things are not always as they seem.