Day Care Worker Arrested After 3-Year-Old Girl Found in Street

HICKSVILLE, NY – A Long Island day care worker faces charges after police say a child she was supposed to be watching wandered into a busy 4-lane road Monday morning.

According to Nassau Police, a 44-year-old man was driving south on Jerusalem Avenue in the vicinity of 8th Street in Hicksville when he spotted a 3-year-old girl standing alone in the right lane.

The driver stopped his car and exited to assist the child out of the roadway. A 2-year-old boy was also standing alone on the curbside grass, police said.

Second Precinct officers responded and determined that the children had gotten out through an unlocked rear gate of Chella’s Childcare located at 290 Jerusalem Ave.

The owner of the day care center, 24-year-old Graciela Castro, who lives at the home, was in charge at the time, police said.

Castro was placed into police custody and charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. She was released on an appearance ticket and will be in First District Court in Hempstead on Dec. 17.

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