'For Two 40s You Can Have Her'

Mette Matthew Brace, an early front-runner for Father of the Year.

Here's who won't be winning a "Father of the Year" award in 2010: the Massachusetts man who tried to trade his 3-month-old daughter for beer or crack at a gas station.

Matthew Brace, 24, of Northampton reportedly tried to hand over his infant in exchange for "two 40s," a slang expression that can refer to 40-ounce bottles of beer or crack cocaine.

Chicopee police officers said they were not certain which substance Brace was seeking, according to a report in The Republican.

Police Chief John Ferraro Jr., who called the stunt, "a new low," told the newspaper that when a convenience mart clerk asked Brace and his girlfriend the baby's age, the derelict dad replied, "For two 40s you can have her."

State child welfare services later took the baby into custody.

Since this was Massachusetts he of course was not arrested. They have a curious method of law enforcement up that way.