Woman Leaves House With Her Dog - Leaves 15 Month Old Grandson - Arrested [View All]

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BLOOMFIELD, Conn. --A Bloomfield woman was arrested Tuesday after police said she left her 15-month-old grandson unattended at her home but brought the dog as she drove her husband to work.

Loretta McGill-White, 48, was charged with risk of injury to a minor.

McGill-White left the toddler unattended in a crib, police said. About 40 minutes after police and state child welfare officials arrived at her home, McGill-White returned and got out of her car holding the poodle, authorities say.

"I think the officers were a little taken aback when she pulled into the driveway with a poodle on her lap," police Capt. Jeffrey Blatter said. "It draws the question of what's more important."

Police said she told them she left briefly to take her husband to work.

"They could not believe how indifferent this woman was and how she could not get the fact that the potential danger she exposed this child to," Blatter said.

McGill-White took temporary custody of the child on Monday after the boy's mother was arrested on drug charges. Police were checking on the youngster when they found him alone in the unlocked house.

State child welfare officials took custody of the toddler on Tuesday.

If convicted, McGill-White faces between one and 10 years in prison.

She was held on $10,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court on Wednesday.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2005/08/30/police_woman_takes_dog_leaves_child?mode=PF