Deputies: Mom Was High as Special Needs 3-Year-Old Wanders Streets

A mother was arrested and charged with child neglect after police found her 3-year-old special needs child wandering a Bradenton street Tuesday while she was high on marijuana, according to authorities.

Neighbors who found the toddler contacted Bradenton Police and told them they knew where the child lived.

A Manatee County Sheriff's deputy responded and made contact with the mother at the child's home in the 3400 block of 31st Street West. When the woman came to the door, the deputy was "overwhelmed" by the odor of marijuana, according to a sheriff's office report. The woman's eyes were bloodshot, "and she was somewhat lethargic," officials said. She later tested positive for marijuana.

According to the deputy, the woman said she has a double-key lock she uses to keep the child from getting outside, but she forgot to lock it when she went to sleep.

Child Protective Services were contacted and the child was removed from the home.

The woman, 23-year-old Ashley Nitz, was arrested and charged with child neglect.

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