The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 03:55 PM

Roane County Woman Charged With Child Abuse, Neglect After 3-Year Old Granddaughter Found Running In Roadway

A Roane County woman was arrested and charged with child abuse and neglect after her granddaughter was found running in a roadway by police.

According to a Rockwood Police Department report, officers were dispatched on Sept. 15 to Smokin' Joe's Tobacco Shop on Gateway Avenue following reports about a 3-year-old girl running on the roadway. 47-year-old Patricia Brown told officers that the girl was her granddaughter, who had gotten out in the middle of the night.

The person who called in the complaint used their car to block the road and said the child would have been run over had they not done so.

Police reported detecting a strong smell of alcohol on Brown's breath, saying she admitted to drinking several beers earlier in the evening.

Brown was arrested, transported to the Roane County Jail, charged with Child Abuse & Neglect and released on $10,000 bail.