Drunk 4-Year-Old Steals Christmas Presents From Neighbor's Tree (VIDEO)

April Wright had the scare of her life when she awoke in the middle of the night to find her four-year-old son Hayden missing. He was eventually found but not until he had gone on a strange and sad journey that is difficult to believe.

Police say the boy managed to break the child locks on the doors, open a beer he found from his grandfather's cooler, and then slip into his neighbor's house and steal five Christmas presents from underneath their tree. He was found at 1:45am wandering the streets wearing a little girl's brown dress (one of the presents he took) an drinking. He had to be taken to the hospital to be treated for alcohol consumption.

The boy's father is in jail, and his mother says that's why he tries to run away from time to time: "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."

Read more details here and watch the video report below.

Comments

[JefferyLeving]

07:21 PM on 12/17/2009

Proposed comment: This story is an example of the devastating effect a father's incarceration can have on a child. Research has shown that children can benefit by having communication with their incarcerated father and that men who maintain regular contact with their children while incarcerated have significantly lower rates of recidivism.

The Fatherhood Educational Institute is a 501(c) organization dedicated to providing fathers with the resources to participate in their children's lives. Our proposed virtual visitation program for incarcerated fathers would give children like Hayden, whose heartbreaking behavior stemmed from the absence of his father in his life, a chance to regularly connect with their incarcerated parents. Unfortunately, like many non-profit organizations, our primary barrier to implementing this program is a lack of funding. Please visit our website to learn more about our organization, http://fatherhood-edu.org

Jeffery M. Leving, Esq.
President Emeritus
Fatherhood Educational Institute