Isabella R. Tucci and her 2-year-old son (Flagler County Sheriff’s Office) and the area where he was allegedly found wandering alone for hours (Google Maps).
A 22-year-old mother in Florida has been arrested after her 2-year-old son allegedly spent hours wandering around the street by himself.
Isabella R. Tucci was taken into custody on Monday and charged with one count of neglect of a child without causing great bodily harm, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a probable cause affidavit, deputies with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office at about 9:17 a.m. on July 1 responded to a condominium complex in the 100 block of Club House Drive in Palm Coast, Florida, in regard to “a juvenile incident.” Palm Coast is about 80 miles northeast of Orlando. The caller told the dispatcher that a 2-year-old male child had been found unattended in front of the condos.
The child was first spotted at about 9 a.m. by a woman from Connecticut who was in town on vacation, police said. The woman told investigators she went over to the toddler and stood with him for about 15 minutes in hopes of finding a parent nearby before she decided to call 911.
Upon arriving at the scene, deputies located the child, referred to in court documents as “MP,” and attempted to identify him or his parents.
“The child was observed wearing a blue onesie pajama outfit and a very fully soiled diaper. The child was not observed with any injuries,” the affidavit states. “(The child) was able to speak with Deputies, but was not able to I accurately verbalize his name, or his parent’s names or information. It should be noted that (the child) has longer blond hair that went down to his shoulders.”
Authorities also noted that the blue onesie outfit the was wearing “appeared to be very soiled/dirty.”
Deputies took custody of the little boy and transported him to the sheriff department’s Palm Coast District Office. The Florida Department of Children and Families was notified and responded to the office.
In searching for the boy’s parents, deputies began by going to all of the cars in the condo complex and checking for car seats or a parent searching for a lost child.
A deputy canvassing the area at about 10:33 a.m. found the front door to a unit in the complex had been left “wide open,” the affidavit states. The deputy shouted and was able to wake up the occupant, who was asleep inside. The occupant was then identified as Tucci, who confirmed that she had a 2-year-old son matching the description of the wandering child.
The deputy noted that the condo building was only about 25 yards from a water canal that the child could have easily accessed and the unit was located on the second floor, with the stairway presenting an “elevated fall hazard.” Additionally, Club House Drive was said to be a “heavy traffic thoroughfare between Palm Harbor Parkway and Palm Coast Parkway.”
The boy was found in the roadway approximately 200 yards from the unit where he lived with his mother.
Tucci allegedly told deputies she hadn’t seen her son since she put him to sleep at about 2 a.m. that morning. She advised that she had been having trouble with the boy because he recently learned how to lock and unlock doors. She even noted that he had locked her out of her mother’s home a few days earlier.
The deputy noted that Tucci “had not taken any action to install child-proof locks,” per a news release.
“It appears that Isabella living on a second floor with a height\fall hazard and located next to a water canal (water hazard) while reasonably being aware of her son’s ability to lock\unlock and open doors with her 2-year-old son did not provide her child with the necessary care and\or supervision that a prudent person consider essential for the well-being of the child,” the affidavit continued. “Isabella was placed under arrest and is charged with Felony Neglect Child without Great Bodily Harm.”
The affidavit said the condo was also “in great disarray” and “cluttered with trash and food on the floors” as well as open containers of alcohol.
“Obviously, this mother won’t be mother of the year unless she can turn her life around and put her child first instead of illegal drugs,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement. “This was a very sad situation that could have turned out a whole lot worse. Thankfully, a concerned visitor ‘saw something’ and decided to ‘say something’ potentially saving a life. Parents, make sure your doors are properly secured and your homes are child-proofed. Otherwise, we and DCF will get involved. Hopefully, this young mother will get the help she needs and turn her life around.”
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