Warning: This article is very upsetting to read.
SALEM — A Salem man who drives children to and from an area day care program has been charged with attempted murder after police say he shoved a baby wipe down his infant son's throat, dropped him on the floor and threw him at the child's mother.
Dario L. Finkel, 26, of 1000 Loring Ave. was angry that his 7-week-old son, Michael, would not stop crying, Finkel's wife told police.
The infant was taken to MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Salem for treatment of facial injuries, including bruising, but is expected to make a full recovery. He was listed in good condition there yesterday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Finkel, meanwhile, is being held without bail pending a hearing next Wednesday into whether he poses a danger if released.
Finkel pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, child endangerment, assault and battery on a child causing injury, and domestic assault and battery during his arraignment yesterday in Salem District Court. Judge Michael Lauranzano granted a request to hold Finkel in custody.
Meanwhile, the administrators of Terri's Little Pumpkins are conducting their own internal investigation to determine whether Finkel ever acted inappropriately with any of the children he drove to and from their centers.
Lawyer Charles Balliro said Finkel worked as a driver for TLP Transportation, a subsidiary of the chain of day care centers, and that his wife, Jennifer Finkel, was a child care worker at the chain's Point of Pines facility in Revere.
Balliro said nothing in Dario Finkel's background "would indicate that he would be involved in child abuse."
But on Tuesday night, prosecutor Michelle DeCourcey told a judge, Finkel repeatedly abused his 52-day-old son, apparently out of anger that the baby was crying and would not obey his commands to "shut up."
Jennifer Finkel told police that sometime between 7:30 and 8 p.m., Dario Finkel became "very upset" at the baby and stuffed a baby wipe into his mouth to try to stop the crying.
She said she immediately ran over to pull the wipe out of the baby's mouth, fearing he would suffocate, then tried to placate her husband by making him dinner.
But when the baby continued to cry, Dario Finkel again grew upset, his wife told police.
He walked over to the couch where the baby was lying, picked him up and held the boy out in front of him, dropping him about 3 feet to the floor, DeCourcey said, citing a police report by Patrolman Ryan Davis.
Finkel's wife picked up the baby and put him back on the couch, but Finkel picked him up again and threw the baby at her from about 4 feet away, the prosecutor said.
After he did this a second time, he went into the bedroom and went to sleep.
Jennifer Finkel scrawled a note to her husband, reading, "I'm leaving you. This (is) for real. I don't want contact with you. If (you) try I will go to the police station. I'm done with you. You hit me. You hit Michael for the last time."
She went on to say that she once loved him, but "you changed."
Then she went to a friend's apartment in the same apartment complex and called police.
When the officers told her they wanted to speak to her husband, she gave them a key and warned them to be careful.
"He's very big and can be very violent," she told the officers.
Police went into the apartment and woke up Dario Finkel, who was sleeping, then placed him under arrest.
Police took pictures of the little boy, showing him with a swollen and bruised upper lip. Police also noticed a small bruise on his stomach and on his legs.
A Department of Children and Families social worker spoke to Dario Finkel, who told him that he had "smacked" his wife while she was holding the baby.
Jennifer Finkel said outside court that she had been with her husband for five years and had gotten married about a year ago.
Yesterday, Lauranzano granted her a one-year restraining order barring Dario Finkel from any contact with his wife or their son.
Dario Finkel stood behind his lawyer trying to avoid being photographed in the courtroom during his appearance yesterday.
Finkel was born in Honduras and is the adopted son of a Marblehead jeweler and his wife. Finkel's father did not return a call for comment yesterday.
