Ala. Mom Allegedly Made 7-Year-Old Walk Home from School. Then She Ran Him Over, Say Police

The little boy had no broken bones or internal injuries. "God was watching over that child that day," the local police chief tells PEOPLE

The 7-year-old Alabama boy had gotten in trouble on the school bus. But after she picked up her child at the behest of school officials, she allegedly made the boy get out of her car, then ran him over, Police Chief Michael Abercrombie tells PEOPLE.

The child sustained relatively minor injuries, the chief says.

“It was a miracle he was not hurt worse than he was,” Abercrombie tells PEOPLE, adding: “God was watching over that child that day.”

Parking just outside the school, the mother allegedly instructed her son to get out and get himself the rest of the way home around 3:30 p.m. Feb. 8, according to the chief, who noted that the family lived about eight blocks from the school.

She drove alongside the child – flashers on – as the child trotted alongside it, the chief alleged.

When the child reached for the door handle of the car – in what the chief said was an attempt to get back inside – his mother “whether she realized it or not,” pushed on the gas, the chief alleged.

The momentum yanked the child under the car. The mother ran over the child’s back and grazed the side of his head, the chief said.

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The little boy had no broken bones or internal injuries, according to the chief, who tells PEOPLE that after being treated at UAB Hospital in Birmingham for some abrasions, he was released.

The mother – a 27-year-old woman, whose name PEOPLE has confirmed but withheld to protect the privacy of her son – has been charged with aggravated child abuse of a family member, according to the Office of the Sheriff of Marshall County’s online booking records.

Aggravated child abuse is a Class B felony, according to Alabama state code. If convicted, the charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years behind bars, according to a post by former judge and prosecutor Andrew Segal, who now works as a defense lawyer in Huntsville, Ala.

The mother, who was booked into the county jail shortly before midnight on Feb. 8 was released on bond early on the morning of Feb. 11, according to her online records. The Boaz Police Department recorded her bail as $50,000.

A 53-year-old woman, who was a passenger in the car at the time of the incident, was also arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child – which is a misdemeanor – and subsequently released on a $500 bond, the chief confirms to PEOPLE.

The chief said the older woman was charged because she allegedly “didn't intervene” when the mother said the young child would have to get himself home – by walking or running – since he was barred from taking the bus that day.

The older woman’s misdemeanor case will go through the Boaz Municipal Court, due to the comparatively minor nature of the crime, per the chief.

The mother has been barred from having contact with her son, according to the chief, who said that the Department of Human Resources has taken custody of the little boy.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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