By Associated Press
4 hours ago

MINNEAPOLIS - A 14-year-old boy was arrested after his 3-year-old sister was found passed out drunk from hard liquor at a home, police said.

The girl was unconscious when she was taken to a hospital after her sister called police Monday night, police spokesman Lt. Greg Reinhardt said. "The child could have easily died," he said.

She was recovering and had been released to a children's home by Wednesday morning.

The girl's teenage brother was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of child endangerment, Reinhardt said. He said neglect or abuse appeared to have caused the girl's condition, rather than accidental alcohol poisoning.

Police would not release further details on the boy and any court proceedings because he is a juvenile.

The girl's blood alcohol level was 0.12 percent, authorities said. Minnesota law considers drivers drunk when their blood alcohol level is 0.08 percent.

About one ounce of 40-proof liquor would cause that blood-alcohol level in a 3-year-old child of average weight, about 28 pounds. Kirk Hughes of the Minnesota Poison Control System said one ounce would be about two mouthfuls for such a child.

Reinhardt said police don't know what kind of hard liquor the girl drank.

Reinhardt said the girl's mother was not home at the time.


What the???

Fuckin hell

Originally, the grandmother was arrested:

(AP) Minneapolis A 14-year-old boy was under arrested Wednesday after his 3-year-old sister was found passed out with a blood alcohol level of 0.12 percent at a home where four adults were "heavily drunk," authorities said.

She was unconscious and in critical condition when she was taken to a hospital Monday night, police spokesman Lt. Greg Reinhardt said. "The child could have easily died," Reinhardt said.

However, she was doing fine Tuesday and by midmorning Wednesday had been released from the hospital to the St. Joseph's Home for Children, a nonprofit that cares for children in crisis.

The girl's brother was arrested Tuesday at the home on suspicion of child endangerment, Reinhardt said.

"This was not a case of accidental alcohol poisoning," he said. It was a case of "neglect or abuse."

The girl's grandmother, a 53-year-old Minneapolis woman, was released Wednesday after being arrested previously on suspicion of possible child endangerment.

The girl's sister called police and told officers the 3-year-old accidentally got into alcohol in a cabinet, Reinhardt said. He said police later learned that she drank hard liquor, but he didn't know what kind.

Kirk Hughes of the Minnesota Poison Control System said it would take about 7 ounces of beer or about one ounce of 40-proof liquor for a 28-pound child to reach a 0.12 blood-alcohol level. One ounce would be about two mouthfuls for such a child, he said.

Authorities also found 11 other children, ages 1 to 15, at the house, Reinhardt said. The 3-year-old's mother was not home at the time, he said. She later told officers the grandmother was the baby sitter, according to a police report.

Arthur Searcy, a visitor at the house Monday night, said the grandmother took the blame because of her "mother hen" instincts to protect her grandchildren. She was visiting, not baby sitting, he said.

"The baby got a hold of something, and that's it," Searcy said. "Accidents do happen."

The adults were drinking in the kitchen and the children were in another room when the girl got drunk, he said, adding he was unaware of her condition until police arrived.

Geezuz cripes

Oh. My older brother did this to my sister when she was about five or six years old. He mixed her a cocktail of everything in the drinks cabinet and she drank it.

But 14 is old enough to know better. I think my brother was seven at the time.

Justin1972UK said:

3's kind of young to start hitting the bottle

Seriously though, my parents used to let us drink a little wine, and sometimes whisky when we were younger. When my grandparents had us over for dinner, everyone drank wine, and we would get a little small glass of it (one of those glasses you use for port wines). After dinner everyone drank coffee, and a shot of whisky.

It would calm us down, lol, so we weren't so hyper-active.

Tom said:

I don't see anything wrong with that, but the 14 year old obviously had a less stable experience of alcohol, if he knew it would be fun to get his little sister wasted