BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A Bloomington mom was charged with neglect after she drunkenly locked herself and her kids outside their residence.
According to an affidavit for probable cause filed Tuesday, officers were dispatched to the 900 block of North Lindbergh Drive around 2:13 a.m. on July 5 to assist a woman who was claiming she needed police to kick her home’s door down so she and her children’s could enter it.
When police arrived at the scene, they made contact with 29-year-old Tiana Baker and two children. Per court records, Baker was wearing a tan skirt with buttons down the front. Law enforcement reported that only the top button of her skirt was clasped, leaving her underwear and “private area” exposed.
Police also observed that Baker had a long dirt mark running down her leg. Officers suspected she had fallen on the ground at some point.
Court records indicate Baker was slurring her words, crying and even yelling at police. To help Baker and the children get inside the residence, officers requested assistance from a maintenance team.
While waiting for the maintenance team to arrive, Baker began screaming at officers. When police tried to explain that maintenance was on the way, she screamed over them without pause, saying things like, “Get the f*** away from me b****” and “Shut the f*** up b****.”
According to court documents, Baker’s disorderly conduct began to cause a disturbance in the area, as some of her neighbors began to wake up and come out of their apartments.
As their interaction with Baker continued, police noticed she had no keys, no phone and no shoes. During the entire encounter, the children with Baker did not have shoes on. Officers deduced that Baker had also likely lost the kids’ shoes at some point due to her level of intoxication.
Police reported that the children slept by Baker’s feet on a concrete slab on the ground during the incident. Per court records, the children woke up at some point during the incident and were shivering because they were lying on the ground without shoes on.
As Baker repeatedly asked them to leave, officers insisted they must stay because they can’t allow the children to sleep outside on the cement all night. At one point, Baker told the officers not to worry about the children because they were safe inside the residence. When she made that statement, police observed that the children were, indeed, still lying by her feet.
Because Baker had locked herself and her children outside their house, failed to provide the kids with adequate shelter and refused to allow officers to help remedy the situation, police arrested her for neglect of a dependent. She was also preliminarily charged with disorderly conduct because she had caused a ruckus in her neighborhood.
Disorderly conduct and neglect of a dependent are a Class B Misdemeanor and a Level 6 Felony, respectively. The maximum penalty for a Level 6 Felony in Indiana is a 2.5-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $10,000.
