A Watertown mom is facing a felony and misdemeanor charge after police say she kicked her 12-year-old son out of the car to walk to a tutoring session along I-94.
43-year-old Flor Escalante has been charged with child abandonment, a felony, and neglecting a child, a misdemeanor. Brookfield police say they found her son walking alongside I-94 around 5:30 P.M. near Calhoun Road.
Officers say the 12-year-old boy was crying and that he claimed to be going to Sylvan Learning — despite the tutoring center being nearly two miles away from where police picked him up. Officers say it was dark out and that there was rush hour traffic. The boy was not wearing high visibility clothing and police say his clothes were "thin" for the 50 degree weather. He also did not have a phone or any other way to contact help.
The boy first told police he'd only been walking for five minutes, but officers say there were no homes that close by. He eventually admitted to police that his mother had kicked him out of the car after an argument over grades and "school work habits." Escalante later admitted to police that her son "didn't appreciate everything [she] did for him." She told police she works several jobs and still takes time to assist her son with tutoring.
The boy told police his mother pulled over to the side of the highway, he got out, and she drove away. Escalante told police she made her son walk "so he can understand what labor is."
Police found Escalante at Sylvan Learning and took her to the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department for questioning. Those officers found two phones on Escalante, who admitted one off them belongs to her son.
Escalante told police traffic was "going slower" so she felt it was safe for him to walk. She also told officers she did a u-turn on the highway to try to find him but couldn't, so she continued onto Sylvan Learning. She confirmed to police that she did not call police when she wasn't able to find her son and that she "just assumed that officers would bring him back to her."
When police tried to explain to Escalante how dangerous her behavior had been, they say she just asked if there was anything she could do to "lower her charges." In the criminal complaint, officers write that Escalante was "visibly upset about the situation, but did not seem to grasp the recklessness and negligent nature of her actions."
Read the full criminal complaint below.
Flor Escalante Criminal Complaint by TMJ4 News on Scribd
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