5-year-old left home alone calls grandma, and mom ends up arrested, NC police say

A 5-year-old inadvertently got his mom arrested after he woke up alone in the middle of the night and called grandma for help, according to police in North Carolina.

It happened Sunday in Kinston, and police got involved after the boy’s 26-year-old mother returned home at 9 a.m. and discovered he was missing, the Kinston Police Department reported in a June 8 Facebook post.

“Upon arrival, officers made contact with (the mother), who advised that she had left the residence without the child and without arranging for a caretaker. ... When she returned to the residence, the child was no longer there,” police said.

“During the investigation, officers learned that at approximately 3:42 a.m., the child contacted his grandmother and advised that he was alone. The grandmother responded to the residence, located the child unattended, and took custody of him.”

The boy’s mother was arrested and charged with misdemeanor child abuse, exposing children to fire, and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, police said. “A referral was also made to the Department of Social Services,” police said.

Investigators say the boy was left alone for hours and was at “substantial risk of physical injury,” court documents report.

Kinston is about an 80-mile drive southeast from downtown Raleigh.