Woman in auto crash charged with negligence

A Bloomington woman was arrested Saturday following a car crash. The woman allegedly told police investigating the accident that she had left her five children at home unattended.

After suspect Maria Salis-Mattingly told an officer from the Bloomington Police Department that her children were home alone, officers responded to her residence in the 500 block of South Basswood Drive and performed a welfare check on the children at about 11:33 p.m., BPD Sgt. Lucas Tate said.

When officers knocked on the front door, the children inside shut off the lights and did not answer. When officers gained entry into the home, Tate said they found Salis-Mattingly’s five children, who are 11, 8, 3, 4 and 1 years old.

One of the children was asleep, Tate said, but the others complained about being hungry. Officers located food inside the residence, which they gave to the children, Tate said.

On questioning the children, Tate said the eldest child told police their mother had left home at about dusk, possibly an hour before.

Because the mother was not present when officers performed a welfare check and was later transported to the hospital for injuries from the crash, the father of three of the children arrived at the residence to supervise his children, which Tate said Child Protective Services approved.

Two of the children have a different father, Tate said. The father of those two children arrived at the residence and took custody of the children.

Salis-Mattingly is being charged with neglect of dependents.

— Mark Keierleber