Mother Exposes Bare-Footed Son to Winter Elements for 3 Hours, Police Say

Greenfield police say a 24-year-old Greenfield mother took her 2-year-old son out in freezing temperatures in nothing more than his pajamas and kept him exposed to the elements for more than three hours.

According to the Greenfield Police Department report, the woman, who had been drinking at a party and was believed to be intoxicated, got into a fight with her girlfriend at about 1:15 a.m. Feb. 9.

The woman’s girlfriend told police she grabbed her son out of bed while he was sleeping and left on foot with no money, keys or phone. The boy was dressed in just a long-sleeve pajama shirt and a pair of fleece pajama pants, and his mother was wearing pants, a shirt and a light zip-up jacket.

Neither wore socks or shoes, and the temperatures that night ranged from 12 to 16 degrees, according to the report.

Greenfield police, with the help of the Waukesha Sheriff’s Office’s K-9 unit, searched the area around 78th Street and Barnard Avenue but could not find the woman or her son.

Police did find bare footprints – both the size of an adult and a child – in the snow behind a home in the 7700 block of West Barnard Avenue next to a sliding patio door.

When police returned to the location of the party at approximately 5 p.m., the woman had returned. She was curled in a blanket sitting on the floor, and her son was wrapped in a blanket sitting on the couch.

The woman admitted to police she had been drinking, became upset and left the party. She told police that she and her son eventually made their way to Associated Bank, 4811 South 76th St., and spent up to 45 minutes in the building’s unlocked lobby.

The 2-year-old was taken to Children’s Hospital with cold extremities and an irregular heartbeat. He was eventually turned over to his father.

The woman was cited for child neglect and prowling.