A mother was arrested after she was accused of letting her children under the age of 12 walk 19 miles to school from a West Side neighborhood, according to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
Lucia Victoria Marie Cruz, 35, was charged with abandoning or endangering a child in danger of bodily harm, court records show.
She was being held at the Bexar County Jail Wednesday night and released early Thursday morning after posting bond.
A magistrate judge ordered Cruz not to purchase, own, possess or use any firearms as a condition of his bail.
A BCSO incident report states that a witness spotted the child about a mile from the home and deputies arrived at a home in the 15100 block of Orpheus Way between Potranco Road and Medina Valley to conduct a welfare check. Witnesses told authorities the child tried to move away from the road but was forced closer to passing vehicles due to cacti and bushes on the side of the road.
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The witness then contacted the school, and a school resource officer met with the witness and the child. The Sheriff’s Office said the child did not have a cell phone and would not have been able to make contact in an emergency.
The children told deputies that their mother, Cruz, and her boyfriend had been arguing the night before and that Cruz had been drinking and allegedly passed out. The children said they woke their mother the next morning and she told them to walk to school, according to authorities.
When deputies arrived at Cruz’s home, they spoke with Cruz and her boyfriend. Authorities said Cruz confirmed she knew the child had walked to school.
The child’s father later responded to the school and told officials that he had custody under an existing custody agreement, even though the child was in the mother’s care at the time of the incident.
School district police notified Child Protective Services.
This article was originally published on Sheriff Bexar says mother drank alcohol and made children walk 19 miles to school without making phone calls.