Wandering toddler found in road after being left at Family Dollar, Louisiana cops say
An unattended 2-year-old was found wandering in a road after being abandoned outside a Family Dollar store in Louisiana, authorities said. Now, the child’s mother is charged.
Ouachita Parish sheriff’s deputies responded to the area Sunday, Sept. 11, after someone called to report a child walking alone in the road near an intersection in Monroe, according to an arrest affidavit.
A witness told deputies they saw a red car pick up the child on a nearby street before dropping her off at the Family Dollar on Colonial Drive and West Elmwood Drive. The witness tried talking to the child in hopes of finding their parent, police said.
A short time later, the child’s mom showed up.
The 23-year-old woman told deputies she walked to a friend’s house “for a little while” but had someone watching her kids at home, according to the affidavit. Her 1-year-old son was also left home alone, deputies said, and was found asleep when authorities went to check on him.
The woman told deputies she was “only gone about 20 minutes” and provided the name and number of the person she left in charge — who deputies couldn’t locate.
She was booked into jail on two counts of criminal abandonment and interfering with a law enforcement investigation, records show. She was released Monday, Sept. 12, after posting $2,500 bond.
Monroe is about 100 miles east of Shreveport.
This story was originally published September 12, 2022 at 12:24 PM with the headline "Wandering toddler found in road after being left at Family Dollar, Louisiana cops say."