A Massachusetts mother is being held on $25,000 bond after her 11-year-old son says she drove off and left him on the side of the road.
Mattapoisett Police say Marina Johnson, of New Bedford, abandoned her son Friday night. The boy was only wearing a coat and did not have a hat or gloves in the freezing temperatures.
The boy told police when his mother sped off, he ran after her but he couldn't catch up. He then went to resident Jeanette Goyette's front door for help.
"He was scared. My husband answered the door and he asked if he could have a ride back to New Bedford and my husband said, 'well hold on, i'll get the police,'" recalled Goyette.
Police said Johnson has done this type of thing before and knew exactly where to find her. She was at House of Hope, a shelter in New Bedford.
Shortly after she got back, investigators say Johnson tried running away from the shelter with her other child, an 8-year-old.
"We searched our building - under everywhere in our building with the police," recalled House of Hope director, Robert Hughes. "They searched, we searched. we searched out in the yard, we searched out back."
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Police eventually found Johnson and the child standing knee-deep in a nearby marsh.
At her arraignment Monday in Wareham District Court, Johnson's attorney says the boy walked out on his own from a McDonald's.
"My client tells me that her older son advised her that he was going to walk to a friend's house and that he would see her later on at the Hope House," said attorney John Glynn.
Johnson was charged with reckless endangerment to children and abandon child without support. It's unclear when her next court date is, but both children are currently in custody with Department of Children & Families.
