From WTVC-TV Website:
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WTVC-TV) - A 4-year-old boy, beer in hand, clad in a dress, is accused of stealing Christmas presents from his neighbors.
It's a strange story, but also a sad one.
It's a strange story, but also a sad one.
April Wright is 21 years old and is going through a divorce with her husband who is in jail.
She says she has no idea how her 4-year-old managed to get out of the house, open a beer, and steal the neighbors presents from under their tree.
She says she has no idea how her 4-year-old managed to get out of the house, open a beer, and steal the neighbors presents from under their tree.
Now she says she won't let it happen again.
The child, Hayden Wright, was found around 1:45 am Tuesday, wandering the streets of his neighborhood. In a police reports, officers said he was wearing a little girl's dress and drinking a beer.
The police report says the child had to be taken to the hospital to be treated for alcohol consumption.
Wright says she woke up that night at 1:45 am and panicked when she found Hayden was gone.
She says she put safety devices on all the doors so her kids couldn't get out, but Hayden was able to break the safety device off the doorknob and get outside.
Once out, Wright says her four year old followed his father's footsteps and was found on Blue Spruce Road, drinking.
The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office report says Hayden rang the doorbell a few houses down and the neighbor answered, finding the child holding a partially consumed 12-ounce beer.
Wright said, "He got it out of my father's cooler in the back and how he got it open I don't understand because it was one of those tab beers, and we haven't taught him those."
But it doesn't stop there.
The report said Hayden then snuck into a neighbor's house through an unlocked front door, and stole five wrapped Christmas gifts.
One was a girl's brown dress which Hayden was wearing when police found him.
"Going to the neighbor's house and taking their presents, very embarrassing," said April.
She admits she was not just embarrassed, but scared, and rushed to the hospital that night with Hayden.
She said she tries to be a good mother and loves her son, but now feels like a failure.
"He runs away trying to find his father," she said. "He wants to get in trouble so he can go to jail because that's where his daddy is."
I've got nuthin. No, really. I've got nuthin'.
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." --- Albert Einstein
"In each family a story is playing itself out, and each family's story embodies its hope and despair." --- Auguste Napier
