Police say mom left tot behind, went gambling

FIFE: Police say mom left tot behind, went gambling
Police say a 3-year-old girl was left alone in a motel while her mother and the woman’s boyfriend gambled at a Fife casino.


Police say a 3-year-old girl was left alone in a motel while her mother and the woman’s boyfriend gambled at a Fife casino.

The manager at a motel in the 3800 block of Pacific Highway East called police about 2 a.m. Monday.

“There was a 3-year-old girl who had been wandering around in the parking lot and crying for her mom,” Fife police Lt. Tom Thompson said.

A clerk who recognized the child went to the man and woman’s room and found the door open.

The 22-year-old mother and her 21-year-old boyfriend returned to the motel about 5:30 a.m. and told police they had lost track of time because the boyfriend won a jackpot at the casino. They said they l eft the child alone because she was asleep when they arrived at the motel.

The mother, a Lakebay resident, was arrested on suspicion of child abandonment. The boyfriend, who lives in Tacoma, was arrested for investigation of various drug charges.

The child is in state care.

Stacia Glenn, staff writer