(KATV) –
Hot Springs police responding to a home burglary alarm discovered three children living in deplorable living conditions in a neighboring house.
Police arrested the children’s mother, Tiffany Tucker, and her live-in boyfriend, Eric Gentry, both 32.
Police responded to a home burglary alarm on Shady Hills Street in Hot Springs at approximately 6:40 a.m. Wednesday. A witness told police she saw a young male run from the house toward a neighboring home. Police located the 12-year-old boy in the bushes.
The boy told police he had broken into the house because he was hungry and that he took a box of cheese crackers. He told police his two younger brothers, ages 6 and 9, were inside their house alone. Police then called Tucker and advised her of the incident involving her son.
Tucker and Gentry arrived at the house about an hour later. Police said they had gone to the pharmacy and to get water. Officers asked about the two younger children. Tucker led an officer to the back door, which was padlocked on the outside.
Once inside the house, Tucker and the officer went to the children’s bedroom, where the door was tied shut from the outside with twine. The two children were found inside the room with a five gallon bucket containing urine and feces. The boys were removed from the home. Police say Tucker and Gentry later said the children were locked in the bedroom as punishment and she began locking them in there “a few days before school was out”.
According to the police report, the 12-year-old boy was forced to stay on the enclosed front porch next to a utility room. Police found a pallet on the floor and a bucket with urine and feces. The front door was also found padlocked shut and the boy did not have access to inside the residence to get food or water.
Police say the residence also did not have running water.
Source: Police: Kids found living in deplorable conditions after ‘hungry’ kid caught stealing Cheez-Its
