A mother from Alabama faces child abuse charges for accidentally running over her 7-year-old son while he was walking home from school as a punishment, as reported by the Boaz Police Department.
According to authorities, the event occurred on Feb. 9 at approximately 3:30 p.m. when Sarai Rachel James, 27, retrieved her son from school in Boaz, Alabama.
James was informed that her son had been sent to the principal’s office due to misconduct earlier in the day, according to the police.
As a disciplinary measure, James pulled over her car near the school and instructed her son to walk or run the remaining distance home, which was about eight blocks, according to the police.
Alabama Mother Faces Child Abuse Charges
As he strolled, James drove next to her son for a few blocks. When she decelerated, the boy attempted to grab the car’s door handle, according to the Miami Herald.
As per Boaz Chief of Police Michael Abercrombie, James accelerated, causing her son to be pulled under the car and run over by a rear tire.
Investigators speaking to the Miami Herald, they suspect that what happened was accidental. Abercrombie claimed that the boy would not have been in that situation if he had not been disciplined.
“She may not have been aware of his actions,” Abercrombie said. “He was under divine protection.”
As per the police, the young boy is currently in stable condition and was taken to the University of Alabama hospital for treatment of abrasions on his back and the side of his head.
Three days after his arrest, James was freed on a $50,000 bail and has since been charged with severe child abuse, according to Marshall County prison records
