22-Month-Old Found Wandering Busy Streets Alone, Mom Arrested
By: David Shepherd
Updated: August 8, 2012
DAWSON SPRINGS - A Hopkins County woman was arrested Wednesday after police found her 22-month-old child wandering down a sidewalk next to a busy street at the peek of the morning rush hour, according to police captain Craig Patterson.
At 7:30 on a weekday morning, cars pack the small roads in Dawson Springs for work and school. But Wednesday's commute was far from ordinary for one good Samaritan who saw the child and notified police.
Patterson tells Eyewitness News, "She said she had seen a toddler running up and down the sidewalk unattended. No adult around."
Police say the mother, Candis Spinks, had no idea her child had wondered out of the open front door.
"There were two adult males sleeping in the apartment, one on the couch, one in the bedroom," explains Patterson.
After a few minutes, Patterson found Spinks in another part of the home. He says, "None of those parties knew the child was outside. Didn't know how long he'd been out there."
One of the men, at the home when the incident occurred, was Earl Adams who confronted my photojournalist and me outside of the apartment in the Bath House apartment complex, as we investigated the claims.
Holding a can of beer, Adams told me he had no idea what I was talking about when I questioned him about what went on here this morning.
"I didn't know the kid took off," Adams said.
Patterson explained, "There were several beer cans, some empty, some partially full, sitting immediately in the front door, in the kitchen."
Arresting documents show Spinks filled a prescription Tuesday for 150 Lortab (a narcotic pain killer). When police arrived Wednesday morning, they could only find 38 pills left.
I asked Adams if he thought Spinks was a good mother. He responded, "Yeah." The rest of his statement was not audible as his slurring made understanding him nearly impossible.
Adams even explained what he thinks would happen to a young child alone and on the loose.
"In a big city, they'll grab a hold of them. And that's true."
But police reminded us abductions don't just happen in big cities.
"Anytime there's a child involved and there's a possibility of injury or something more serious, obviously, we want to get there as quickly as we can."
The child was removed from the home and is in the care of a relative: the home, police say, was in shambles with no power and dirty conditions.
"The home itself was a hazard to the child. Without a flash light, you couldn't even see in there to walk around."
Spinks is charged with four prescription drug charges in addition to the charge of endangering the welfare of a minor.
