ROSWELL, Ga. — A local mom says a trip to a Roswell city park humiliated her, when an officer escorted her off the premises.
She told Channel 2’s Rikki Klaus that the employees kicked her out for the way she changed her baby's diaper.
Andrea Sitaru said was changing her daughter's diaper at Splash 'n Play at Roswell's Riverside Park Wednesday, after three hours of fun.
"I don't want any other mom to go through what I went through," Sitaru said.
She said she placed Eloise on a blanket, on the deck, away from the water. And then a staff member approached her.
"Telling me that I need to leave the premises because there's no diaper changing allowed," Sitaru told Klaus.
Klaus contacted the city of Roswell for their side of the story.
In a staff account Channel 2 Action News obtained through a public records request, the employee wrote:
"I went up to her and respectfully asked her to do that in the restroom," Sitaru said.
She said the restrooms are disgusting.
"It's ridiculous. It smells. It's located by the trash can. There is flies everywhere," Sitaru said.
Sitaru finished changing her child, asked for a supervisor, and began to feed her youngest child a bottle.
The city says an employee mistakenly told Sitaru bottle feeding was not allowed.
"Tell her that you can't feed your child out, that's wrong," Sitaru told Klaus.
Next a police officer on a break arrived, coincidentally. The city says the employees asked him to step in.
Another mom took video of the officer asking Sitaru to leave the city park.
"It was embarrassing. It was very humiliating," Sitaru said.
He escorted her out.
A sign posted at the city park, says "No diaper changing allowed on deck.”
"I did not see that," Sitaru said.
We visited the park today and asked parents their thoughts.
“She was trying to do the right thing and didn't realize that she was doing the wrong thing," one park-goer told Klaus. "If you're not trying to make a statement, you know just kind of comply with the rules and walk away."
Cox Media Group
