Yanay Rodriguez of Hialeah, Florida was arrested Wednesday after she was accused of leaving two children - ages ten and two - home alone while she went out to eat with friends, news sources report. Rodriguez, 27, was booked into the Miami-Dade County Jail on two counts of child neglect. She was later released after she posted a $5,000 bail bond. It is not yet known whether Rodriguez has hired a criminal defense lawyer.
Sources say Rodriguez shares joint custody of her two children with their father. According to reports, the Department of Children and Families were involved in a prior case of child abuse with Rodriguez in 2009. The details of that case were not immediately available at press time. Temporary custody of the children was given to the father following Rodriguez's arrest, reports say.
This particular incident occurred around Wednesday evening at an apartment complex in Hialeah, where Rodriguez lives with her kids. Reports say Rodriguez left the children home alone that evening while she accompanied friends to a nearby McDonalds. At around 11 p.m., neighbor Graciela Sola discovered the two-year-old victim wandering the complex's hallways without pants on. The neighbor called police and kept an eye on the toddler until they arrived.
Officers responded to the apartment complex and found the 10-year-old safe inside Rodriguez's apartment. Rodriguez arrived at the complex at around 3 a.m. and was confronted by police officers; she told the officers she was at McDonalds, sources say. Reports say the Department of Children and Families are investigating the case. "We have an open investigation and we are cooperating with law enforcement," a DCF spokesperson reportedly told reporters.