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http://www.wqad.com/news/wqad-dad-who-c ... 8686.story
DAVENPORT - A Davenport father who chained his 14-year old son to a car bumper in his bedroom says the boy keeps running away and he's ''at his wits end''.
Richard Collins is charged with child endangerment with bodily injury. His brother, James Collins is charged with assault.
The two admit they chained the boy's ankle to a detached Camaro bumper Sunday after the boy trashed his room and threatened to run away again.
''He's run away three times'', Richard said. ''I've grounded him, took things away. That don't work. I'm at my wit's end''.
He says his son, who has an amputated arm, ran away Sunday and wound up in Wilton. Picked up by police, he says he and the boy got into it on the way back home in their car.
''He decided he wanted to swing and throw punches at me, and I opened-hand smacked him and said 'You ain't gonna hit me'', Richard said.
He says his son threatened to run away again, and trashed his room and broke a window. Then, he and his brother had an idea.
''You know the old ball and chain routine, that's what it was''.
They say they kept the chain loose on his ankle, and set him free after about 15 minutes. That's when the boy called police on the two.
Collins makes no apology.
''Yea, it may have been a little outrageous and out of control, but I was trying to protect him. He wants to run with gangs, he thinks the gangs are his buddies, I'm trying to break him from gangs. I was trying to keep him from getting hurt, killed or whatever, so I don't find him in a ditch, dead, hanging with these kids''.
''The chain was loose. The marks on his ankle, he did himself by pulling on the bumper'', James Collins said.
James the uncle says his 9-year old son drowned in 1997, and he, too was trying to keep his nephew safe.
''I buried my son and closed the casket and everything. I don't want to bury my nephew''.
Collins says his ex-wife has legal custody but the boy had been staying with him. ''His mom gave him to me, cause she can't handle him''
Collins says he is not physically abusive to his son, but feels powerless when his son skips out on school, and is ''out of control''. The chain, he says, was a very temporary fix to a problem he doesn't know how to solve.
''You have to do what you have to do to control them. I love my kids with all my heart. I'd die for him. I'll also do what I have to do to protect him as well. It's just bullcrap that I'm trying to straighten my son out, but nobody wants to help me straighten him out. I can't get no help''.
The boy is now living with his mother. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services is involved in the case.
http://www.wqad.com/news/wqad-dad-who-c ... 8686.story
DAVENPORT - A Davenport father who chained his 14-year old son to a car bumper in his bedroom says the boy keeps running away and he's ''at his wits end''.
Richard Collins is charged with child endangerment with bodily injury. His brother, James Collins is charged with assault.
The two admit they chained the boy's ankle to a detached Camaro bumper Sunday after the boy trashed his room and threatened to run away again.
''He's run away three times'', Richard said. ''I've grounded him, took things away. That don't work. I'm at my wit's end''.
He says his son, who has an amputated arm, ran away Sunday and wound up in Wilton. Picked up by police, he says he and the boy got into it on the way back home in their car.
''He decided he wanted to swing and throw punches at me, and I opened-hand smacked him and said 'You ain't gonna hit me'', Richard said.
He says his son threatened to run away again, and trashed his room and broke a window. Then, he and his brother had an idea.
''You know the old ball and chain routine, that's what it was''.
They say they kept the chain loose on his ankle, and set him free after about 15 minutes. That's when the boy called police on the two.
Collins makes no apology.
''Yea, it may have been a little outrageous and out of control, but I was trying to protect him. He wants to run with gangs, he thinks the gangs are his buddies, I'm trying to break him from gangs. I was trying to keep him from getting hurt, killed or whatever, so I don't find him in a ditch, dead, hanging with these kids''.
''The chain was loose. The marks on his ankle, he did himself by pulling on the bumper'', James Collins said.
James the uncle says his 9-year old son drowned in 1997, and he, too was trying to keep his nephew safe.
''I buried my son and closed the casket and everything. I don't want to bury my nephew''.
Collins says his ex-wife has legal custody but the boy had been staying with him. ''His mom gave him to me, cause she can't handle him''
Collins says he is not physically abusive to his son, but feels powerless when his son skips out on school, and is ''out of control''. The chain, he says, was a very temporary fix to a problem he doesn't know how to solve.
''You have to do what you have to do to control them. I love my kids with all my heart. I'd die for him. I'll also do what I have to do to protect him as well. It's just bullcrap that I'm trying to straighten my son out, but nobody wants to help me straighten him out. I can't get no help''.
The boy is now living with his mother. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services is involved in the case.
