5-Year-Old Left Home Alone with Stove On: Cops

A frightened White Plains youngster was left home alone with the stove on, and had his neighbor phone police, cops said—an incident that resulted in the child's father being arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

The boy, a five-year-old Church Street resident, knocked on his neighbor's door last Saturday afternoon, telling the man he was home alone and scared because the stove was on.

The neighbor went into the boy's home, turned off the stove and phoned police, according to reports.

When police arrived, the boy told cops his father and two sisters had left to pick up his mother; the boy’s family returned five minutes after the conversation, police said.

The father told police the youngster had opted to stay home alone and draw rather than pick up his mother; he also said he left the stove on when he left, to cook potatoes.

Police arrested the father, charged him and transported him to HQ, where he refused to give a statement, and requested a lawyer. He was held without bail.