Mother ditches son after fast-food tantrum

According to authorities, Lori Marie Heine abandoned her seven-year-old son by the road and drove off.

Why? The boy threw a tantrum after she refused to buy two McDonald’s Happy Meals that he wanted.

Authorities in Florida disagreed with Heine’s parenting tactic and charged her with child abuse and neglect.

According to Zephyr Hills Police Captain Randy Delasic, the boy wandered up to a stranger at a local park at about 8:23 p.m. on July 26 and requested help locating his mother. The boy informed the man that his mother had gotten angry because he had asked for a cheeseburger Happy Meal and a Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal. She allegedly ordered him out of the car, told him that she was never coming back to pick him up and then drove away. The Good Samaritan contacted police who arrived at the park and took the boy into protective custody.

Delasic said the boy’s 23-year-old sister later called police to report her brother missing and was told that he was at the station. She was also asked to bring in their mother.

At the station, Heine, who reportedly appeared intoxicated, confirmed that she argued with her son about the Happy Meals, but that she parked the car by road in order to drink some beer and had only told her son to “go away for a while.” She later realized that he was missing when it started to get dark and had searched for him.

But according to Delasic, officers did not believe that Heine attempted to locate her son. When officers were called to the park they searched the area for the boy’s mother, but were not been able to find her.

Heine was arrested and charged with child abuse and neglect and held on $5,000 bail. The Department of Child and Family Services placed the boy with his older sister.

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