Mom left 2 toddlers home alone to visit boyfriend 30 miles away, arrested with drugs speeding back home: Police

Inset: Angelina Herrera (Poteet Police Department). Background: The Poteet, Texas, Police Department (Google Maps).

A Texas mother is accused of leaving her two toddlers home alone while she drove to another county to visit her boyfriend — only to be arrested on drug charges during an unrelated traffic stop as police were trying to reach the children.

Angelina Herrera was taken into custody earlier this week and charged with two counts of abandoning or endangering a child and one count of possession of a controlled substance, records show.

According to a news release from the Poteet Police Department, officers responded early Tuesday morning to an anonymous report regarding two toddlers who had been left alone at a residence while their mother traveled to San Antonio to visit her boyfriend. San Antonio is about 30 miles north of Poteet.

Officers immediately responded to the home but received no answer at the door. While they remained outside the residence, dispatchers received additional calls, including one reporting that Herrera was on her way back.

Before she could return, however, Atascosa County sheriff's deputies stopped the vehicle she was driving for speeding. The stop was not related to police being called to Herrera's home.

During the traffic stop, deputies found enough evidence to charge her with possession of a controlled substance and arrested her.

Around the same time, another family member arrived at the residence and allowed officers inside. Police said the two toddlers were found unharmed and still asleep.

Investigators subsequently charged Herrera with two counts of abandoning or endangering a child in addition to the drug offense.

The Poteet Police Department did not disclose the children's ages beyond describing them as toddlers, nor did investigators say how long they had allegedly been left home alone before officers arrived.

Herrera remains in custody on the three charges, according to jail records. It was not immediately clear whether she had retained an attorney or when she is scheduled to make her next court appearance.