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Deputy: Seffner Mom Leaves Autistic Girl, Goes To Bar

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 12, 2007

Updated: 12/12/2007 03:52 pm

A Seffner woman left her 12-year-old autistic child alone with her other child, a 10-year-old, while she went to a bar Tuesday night, Hillsborough County deputies say.

  Angie Michelle Hawkins

Deputies arrested Angie Michelle Hawkins, 31, early this morning at home.

Deputies say there is no phone in Hawkins' house and that the autistic girl is prone to having seizures. Her other child woke up and ran to a neighbor's house because he didn't know where his mother had gone, a criminal arrest affidavit states.

The neighbor called law enforcement, and the 10-year-old told a deputy that his mother likely was at Lenny's Bar, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

A deputy called the bar and told her to come home, and she arrived about 12:45 a.m.

Hawkins, 31, then punched her neighbor on the eye with a closed fist, the affidavit states.

Hawkins, of 205 Matthews Ave., was charged with felony child neglect and misdemeanor battery. She was taken to Orient Road Jail, and bail was set at $8,000.

The children were turned over to child protection services, a sheriff's office release says.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.

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