NYPD says mom robbed home, left 5-year-old son wandering the streets in Queens
A homeless mother was arrested Tuesday night after leaving her four children unattended while she was in jail for stealing clothes from a home in Brooklyn, police said.
Officials said Leshea Harris, 30, was arrested Monday night with an accomplice after breaking into an apartment in East New York and injuring the woman who lives there. Harris was charged with numerous counts of assault and robbery, according to court papers.
While her arrest was being processed, Harris’ five-year-old son, who is non-verbal, was seen running around the parking lot of a Far Rockaway laundromat on Seagirt Boulevard, according to law enforcement officials.
The NYPD posted a missing person’s alert for the boy and received a tip with the address where Harris was staying. When police responded, they found three other unattended children ranging in age from one to 11.
On top of the robbery charges from Monday’s home invasion in Brooklyn, Harris was charged Tuesday in Queens with four counts of reckless endangerment of a child and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
According to a complaint from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, Harris and her accomplice, another homeless woman, sprayed mace and physically attacked one of the building’s residents before stealing a bag of clothes from her apartment.
Both women pleaded not guilty and Harris’ attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.









