Angie Harlan (Allen County Sheriff's Office).
An Indiana woman learned her fate this week for hiding her son in her home after he ran away from his foster family, with prosecutors and cops saying she locked him in a closet and forced him to use the bathroom in a Pringles can so he wouldn't be found.
"That's my f—ing kid," Angie Harlan told police officers and agents with the Department of Child Services after they went to her house to retrieve the child, according to court documents obtained by local ABC and NBC affiliate WPTA.
"Nobody's taking my f—ing kid," she said, while allegedly threatening to kill the boy.
Harlan, 45, was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in Allen County Community Corrections Residential Services for felony intimidation and misdemeanor false informing after initially being hit with two neglect charges, a confinement charge and a false informing charge. Prosecutors agreed to scrap those charges as part of a plea deal.
After Harlan's arrest in August, she was accused of giving the child pills that she claimed were Tylenol. Her son, whose age has not been reported, allegedly told police, "It wasn't Tylenol. I know what Tylenol is," according to WPTA.
The boy had been living with a foster family who reported him missing on Aug. 17. Harlan was questioned by authorities after the report was made, but denied seeing him or knowing anything about his whereabouts.
DCS received a tip that the child was at Harlan's home after she was interviewed, which prompted police to return and search the residence. Her son was found under a bed in a second-story bedroom, WPTA reports.
Agents asked the boy what had happened, and he accused Harlan of locking him away in a closet after he ran away from his foster family. He went to a random person's home first. An individual at the residence allowed him to use their phone to call Harlan to tell her what happened, according to police.
Harlan allegedly went to the home, retrieved her son, returned to her house and told him to get in the closet, which had a keyed padlock. Investigators said she gave the boy a Pringles can and told him to use the bathroom in it.
The youth accused Harlan of giving him pills that made him feel drunk because he couldn't fall asleep. While searching the home, authorities found two prescription pill bottles that the boy said were given to him. The pills were Pregabalin 75 mg — a painkiller — and Hydroxyz HCL 25 mg, an antihistamine that can also be used as a sedative. The medication had been prescribed to Harlan and her son said he "passed out" after taking them.
When police first came to Harlan's home, she allegedly ordered her child to get under the bed to avoid being seen. She also took him to a park on one occasion and made him hide in a bush, police said.
The Allen County Community Corrections Residential Services facility, where Harlan will be serving her sentence, operates a community-based supervision program, according to officials. It is described online as an "alternative to incarceration for moderate to high-risk post-conviction felony individuals."