A Carson City mother whose 3-year-old son was found running along Highway 395 in front of Glen Eagles Restaurant will head to court on Oct. 27.
Cheryl Gomes, 42, is being held in the Carson City Jail on suspicion of felony child neglect. Her $40,000 bail was reduced to $20,000 by Justice of the Peace John Tatro when she appeared before him Monday.
Authorities believe the child walked across the four-lane highway from his home at Broadleaf Manor apartments a few blocks away.
Reno resident Monica Titzel said she and her husband, David, were just sitting down for dinner at the restaurant about 6:30 p.m. when she and the waitress saw the boy running south on the shoulder of the highway in front of Glen Eagles.
"I ran out front with waiters and waitresses following me and convinced him to come to me," she said.
Titzels said when she asked the boy where his parents were, he would point northeast toward the Micasa Too Restaurant. He said his name was Sean.
While a Glen Eagles employee ran to Micasa to see if he could locate the boy's parents, Titzel and her husband took him inside for cocoa.
"He was so beautiful, so cute, such a cute little boy," said Titzel, who has three young sons. "He sat at that table with us the whole time."
According to police reports, it was an hour before Gomes called 911 to report her son was missing.
Because his mother was located, the deputy told Titzel he had to take Sean with him, she said.
"It was very hard to put him in that squad car. He was clinging to me," she recalled.
"I'm so sad for that little boy, it just absolutely breaks my heart that someone would just disregard him like that. At the end of it, I was just absolutely in tears."
Gomes was arrested and Sean was taken into protective custody by the state, said Deputy Rudy Hindelang.
Titzel said she and her husband are grateful they were able to help Sean and they were thankful for the compassion shown him by the employees of Glen Eagles Restaurant.
"Everyone at Glen Eagles was so wonderful to us. The entire dinner tab was on them," she said. "The bottom line is, a little boy is suffering. This little 3-year-old innocent life that doesn't deserve this. I saw my little boys in him."