Mom charged in cheetah zoo incident is childcare worker
CLEVELAND — A woman has been charged with misdemeanor child endangering after a weekend incident at the Cleveland zoo.
The charge was filed in Cleveland Municipal Court after a 2-year-old boy was allegedly dangled and dropped into the cheetah exhibit Saturday.
Michelle Schwab, the child's mother, is expected in Cleveland Municipal Court on April 22.
Schwab, 37, is a resident of Delaware, Ohio — a suburb north of Columbus.
She has been the assistant director at the Sawmill Road KinderCare in Columbus, according to a corporate spokesperson with Knowledge Universe that operates the business. Communications coordinator Colleen Moran said Schwab "will remain out of the center while this issue is investigated and addressed."
In addition to the agencies looking into this issue, we are looking into the incident further ourselves, as we closely examine issues involving the treatment of children by our employees, even if those incidents arise outside of our centers.
The child's parents were able to retrieve the toddler from the exhibit before firefighters and paramedics arrived, and the cheetahs didn't attempt to attack any of them, said Christopher Kuhar, executive director of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
The boy's mother was holding him and another child when the boy slipped and fell into the pit Saturday, said spokesman Larry Gray of the Cleveland Fire Department.
The child, whose name was not released, was taken to MetroHealth Medical Center with a leg injury.
"While this incident is disturbing to everyone, we are glad injuries were not any more severe," Kuhar said Saturday.
A similar incident at a Pittsburgh zoo left a 2-year-old boy dead in 2012. The child was fatally mauled after falling into a wild African dogs exhibit.
The cheetah exhibit has reopened, but the overlook area where the incident took place remains closed.
Schwab couldn't be reached to comment on the charges. Court records did not say whether she has an attorney and there was no telephone listing for her.
Contributing: Wale Aliyu, WKYC-TV, Cleveland; The Associated Press