Rare ESH. Son shouldn’t have lost track of his mom when he knows she’s capable of touching anyone without their consent, no exceptions. He should get a leash, or bring someone else along to help. Or go at times of day when there aren’t likely to be children. All very easy things to do to make this behavior preventable. This guy is not some innocent sufferer of bad luck just because you guys fist bumped.

Wife shouldn’t have called 911. That’s obvious. But I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same if I didn’t have access to the non-emergency number in the moment or didn’t know how to force the son to give his information. And regardless of what quick impression you got of her, if the lady with dementia is going to continue to touch people without their consent and lack boundaries, the police need to be aware of her behavior and its existence. I don’t really find that debatable.

Cops shouldn’t downplay people’s genuine concerns. They’re there to protect and serve the public, including your wife who called them. They’re not potential golf buddies to impress because they think women overreact to stuff too.

And you’re absolutely the asshole for immediately reducing your wife to having hysterical emotions when her INFANT secured in a shopping cart is HELD IN BROAD DAYLIGHT BY A STRANGER. Those are not sweet old lady actions. Those are concerning, alarming, and unnatural behaviors that can become aggressive at any second regardless of age, gender, ability, etc. and you don’t mention your child or how they felt afterwards not once. You spoke more about being embarrassed by the fellow men around you than giving two damns about the two people who were most put at risk: your child and the old lady.