Toddler Left Alone In Burning Apartment

A 21-year-old mother was arrested after police evacuating a burning apartment building found a 14-month-old boy had been left alone at home.

“It just boggled my mind,” said officer Eric Armstrong, who found the baby after kicking in the door to a second-floor apartment. “To walk into a place and not find anyone, and walk away with this kid. And there’s no mom.”

The child’s mother was arrested Thursday evening for investigation of felony second-degree child abandonment, said police spokeswoman Cheryl Price.

The child was not injured in the early Thursday morning fire but police said he appeared to be malnourished.

“They could see the outline of his ribs and pelvic bone,” Price said.

The child was taken to a hospital for evaluation and to check on a thumb that appeared badly infected, Price said. The boy was released Thursday night into the custody of the state Department of Social and Health Services.

Neighbors said the woman left her apartment with her daughter, about 3 years old, a few hours before the blaze broke out at the 10-unit Park Apartments.