STRUTHERS, Ohio (WKBN) – A mom in Struthers was arrested Monday afternoon after police said that her 3-year-old child was left to wander in the street when she went to Taco Bell.
Officers were called to the area of Sexton Street and Grandview Avenue by a concerned citizen who noticed a young child in the roadway before the child wandered off. Police located the child on a trampoline at the 100 block of Sexton Street.
When the officer picked up the child, police said that he wasn’t wearing any shoes. His feet were dirty and small rocks and stones were pressed into his feet, according to the report.
When an officer noticed the mother walking, he asked her if she was looking for a child. The mother, Paris Jones, 30, told police that she was looking for something but did not say it was a child.
Jones then told police, “I don’t know. I went to Taco Bell and he was gone,” the report stated.
Since the child was found unsupervised about 70 yards away from his home on a busy roadway, Jones was placed under arrest on an endangering children charge, the report stated.
Reports said Jones was screaming and was uncooperative with police until the officer turned on his body-worn camera.
Reports said that the child was released to a family member.
According to the report, Mahoning County Children Services was familiar with Jones because she lost custody of one of her children previously that is now in foster care.
Jones is being held in the Mahoning County Jail on charges of endangering children and contributing to the delinquency.
