Charges: Lakeville Woman Drove Drunk, Left 3-Year-Old Son Home Alone

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A Lakeville woman is accused of child neglect after she locked her child in a bedroom while driving drunk and rolling her car in Apple Valley last October, according to charges filed in Dakota County Court.

Rebecca Ann Malone, 23, is charged with child neglect in connection with the Oct. 12, 2017 incident.

According to the charges, Apple Valley police responded to a rollover crash at about 8:23 p.m. near Cedar Avenue and County Road 38. The driver of the vehicle, identified as Malone, was found lying in the ditch outside the driver's door of the vehicle.

Officers noticed child seats in the car, and asked her if her children were with her. Officers say Malone was intoxicated and told them her daughter was at her sister's house, but her 3-year-old son was home alone. She told officers she was driving to Plymouth to help a co-worker.

The complaint states officers went to her residence to check on her son. They entered the home and immediately smelled a strong odor of urine, saw a bottle of vodka and a shot glass on a coffee table. They also saw a bedroom door shut and locked from the outside. They located the boy in the bedroom, and nobody else was inside the residence.

Malone admitted to officers she had been at home drinking straight shots of vodka that night. She told police she doesn't remember locking her son in his room, but said the lock is used to lock him in his room. She told police she had no idea why she left the house the night before or where she was going.

If convicted, she faces up to a year in prison and a $3,000 fine.