A Florida mother returning from Las Vegas was met by deputies as she stepped off a plane and arrested after authorities say she left her four children home alone while she traveled for work.
Body camera video shows deputies approaching Irene Miller as she exited the plane Friday morning, escorting her through the airport terminal and placing her in handcuffs.
The arrest came two days after one of Miller’s children called 911 to report that a dumbbell had fallen on her 9-year-old brother’s head, according to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded to the Kissimmee home shortly after 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 21 and found four children, ages 9, 11, 12 and 14, with no adults present, the sheriff’s office said. Fire rescue crews took the injured boy to Celebration Hospital, where he was treated and discharged.
A deputy reached Miller by phone, and she said she was working in Las Vegas and planned to return Oct. 23, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies learned she had left Florida on Oct. 18.
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Miller told deputies she had arranged for a babysitter to travel from Tampa in the mornings to help the children get ready for school and check on them afterward. The sitter was not required to stay overnight, the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities contacted the children’s father, who agreed to take all four to his home while detectives made plans to meet Miller when her flight landed.
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Deputies arrested Miller, 50, on four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm and booked her into the Orange County Jail.
“The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office will not tolerate child neglect,” Sheriff Chris Blackmon said. “These cases will be investigated, and charges will be brought against the parents who are not properly supervising or caring for their children.”
