Story Archive

Back in My Day

Darla Edwards told police that she was in a Billings, Mont., parking lot and her foster son was acting “like a 4-year-old boy,” jumping and running around. According to Edwards, an elderly woman walked up and slapped the boy across the face, yelled at him that he’d be going to jail, and then yelled at Edwards to “get control of the child” as she got into her car and drove off. Police were able to identify the woman as Beverly Hardy, 71. When they approached Hardy’s home, she reportedly said, “I bet you’re looking for me.” Hardy told officers a similar story: she was leaving the restaurant when she saw the boy in the parking lot. “She said [the boy] was unattended and she felt the need to discipline the child,” officers noted in their report. “She pulled him out of traffic, swatted him on the behind and on the cheek.” She also told the officer she didn’t feel like what she did was wrong. “I’m 71, I can do whatever I want,” she said in the parking lot. She was charged with felony assault on a minor. (MS/KRTV Great Falls) ...Funny, that’s almost exactly what the 4-year-old said.