A Connecticut vacationer was taking a walk outside the Palm Club condominiums off Clubhouse Drive in Palm Coast at 9:17 Monday morning when she spotted a 2-year-old boy in the road at the entrance to the parking lot. She walked over to him and cared for him. He was wearing pajamas and a heavily soiled diaper. She called 911.
The boy could not tell deputies or the visitor who his parents are or where he lives. Deputies transported him to the Flagler County Sheriff’s District Office in Palm Coast and contacted the Department of Children and Families. They also went about trying to find his home, first by looking for clues at the Palm Club, such as vehicles with child seats, or for anyone who may be looking for their child.
At 10:33 a.m., they spotted a wide open door at Unit 206. By late morning, the boy’s mother, Isabella Tucci, 22, a resident at the condominiums, had been booked at the county jail on a felony charge of child neglect.
Tucci has been a resident of the condominiums since last November. The house was littered with trash and open containers of alcohol. Deputies saw no clothing in the boy’s room.
Tucci confirmed that she was the boy’s mother, and that she had been asleep. “It should be noted that Unit 206,” her arrest report states, “”is located near a water hazard as a water canal is located just behind the condo building within less than approximately 25 yards of the building itself. There is a concrete walkway with park benches along the water canal that lead to the condo building. Additionally, it should be noted that Unit 206 is on the second floor of the building with an elevated the stairway roadway access near the leading to entrance it.” Clubhouse Drive is heavily trafficked, the report states.
Tucci told authorities she had put her son to sleep at 2 a.m., going to sleep herself at the same time. She had not woken up until the deputies’ voices woke her. When asked when she had fed her son breakfast, she pointed to an open box of cereal on the floor. She said her son had learned to unlock doors–and had locked her out of her mother’s house previously.
While speaking with a DCF investigator, Tucci said she had tested positive for pot and alcohol a few days ago, and a test DCF administered on site on Monday was positive for methadone, a narcotic that treats pain but that is also prescribed to individuals as treatment for drug addiction, enabling them to function normally. Tucci posted bail on $2,500 bond and was released.
