Cops: Mom dines out, leaves young kids home alone… kids start fire
SPRING HILL, Fla. (WFLA) – A Florida woman was charged with child neglect after deputies say she went out for dinner and left her three young children home alone. The kids wound up starting a fire, according to police.
Deputies arrested Tarsha Hite, age 41, just after midnight on March 13.
Deputies say at 10:30 p.m. on March 12, Hite left her kids ages 2, 6 and 10, home alone while she went to dinner in Clearwater. The 2-year-old child turned on the oven, causing the pots in the oven to catch fire. The children ran out of the home and flagged down a neighbor who contacted the fire department, according to an arrest affidavit.
Hite was not available by phone and there was no way for the children to contact her to tell her about the emergency. Other family members told Hite about the fire and Hite told them she was not intending to return to her home. Deputies told Hite she needed to return home, then it took two and a half hours for her to return.
She was arrested on a charge of child neglect and booked into the Hernando County Jail with bond set at $6,000.