Father Arrested For Trying To Pick Up His Children On Foot Rather Than In A Vehicle

CROSSVILLE (WATE) - A Cumberland County father didn't want to wait in a long line of traffic to pick his kids up from school. That led to a series of encounters last week at South Cumberland Elementary, and now the dad's facing charges.

[...]The video was taken by Amanda Long Thursday afternoon as she and her fiance, Jim Howe, were trying to pick up Howe's two children from school. It shows Howe arguing with Deputy Aytes.

Howe says, because of a new policy that started last week, the only way parents can get their children after 2 p.m. is to wait in a line of cars until everyone is released at 2:35. He says not only is this time consuming, it's illegal.

"You don't need a reason as a parent to go get your children. They are our children," Howe said.

As the video shows, Howe was arrested by Aytes for disorderly conduct. Deputy Aytes tells 6 News he's unable to comment because this is an open case. Cumberland County Sheriff Butch Burgess says he hasn't seen the video and doesn't need to, because it won't tell the whole story. He says Aytes was just doing his job.

"The resource officers are there to enforce the law," Burgess said.