Father accused of injuring baby

Published 11:06 pm Monday, August 27, 2007

EVERETT — Police arrested an Everett man Friday for allegedly squeezing and shaking his 6-week-old son to stop the infant’s crying.

The child was left with broken bones.

The man, 22, and the baby’s mother took the child to Providence Everett Medical Center on Friday afternoon, court documents said. The pair thought the baby had something wrong with his ribs.

Doctors examined the infant and found multiple broken ribs, broken collar bones and a broken leg. The boy also had sores in his mouth, the documents said.

Doctors ordered the baby transferred to Children’s Hospital in Seattle. The child’s condition was not immediately available. On Friday it appeared the infant sustained multiple serious injuries, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.

“It’s a horrible story,” he said.

On Friday, the man first told police he didn’t know how the baby was hurt and speculated it could have happened at birth, documents said.

When detectives interviewed him a second time, the man told police he hurt the baby at least twice, both times out of frustration over the child’s crying.

The man told police he first hurt the baby about two weeks ago, the documents said. The child’s crying woke him up. He told police he shoved the baby’s legs into its stomach and squeezed the child’s stomach while trying to force the infant to drink from a bottle, according to the police affidavit.

The second incident occurred about a week ago, the man told police. That time, he squeezed the baby until the child had difficulty breathing, documents said. The man also allegedly admitted that he shook the baby from side to side, he told police.

A convicted felon, the man was jailed for investigation of first-degree assault of a child at the Snohomish County Jail. A judge set bail at $20,000. The amount was maintained Monday.

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.