LIVERMORE — A 2-year-old boy almost drowned in an apartment complex pool last month, and now his mother is being charged with being passed out drunk during the near-tragedy.
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The boy had turned blue after sinking to the deep end of a pool on the 1000 block of Murrieta Boulevard in Livermore, when a man happened by, noticed what was going on, and dove into the pool to rescue him. The Samaritan called police and reported that the mother appeared to be passed out in a nearby lawn chair, authorities said.
The incident occurred a little before 2 p.m. on July 2, court records show.
When officers arrived, the 42-year-old woman reportedly tried to hide her beverage in her purse, but police confiscated it and confirmed it smelled like alcohol. A preliminary screening registered her blood/alcohol level at twice the legal limit, authorities said.
The woman, identified in court as a Pleasanton resident, was charged with a felony count of child abuse. She has been released from jail but ordered to participate in a yearlong rehabilitation program and to not consume any alcohol, court records show.
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Prosecutors objected to her release.
When police interviewed the woman by the pool, she said she thought she had closed her eyes for only a few seconds, but admitted her son would have died if not for the man’s intervention. Surveillance footage, later reviewed by police, showed the boy was drowning for roughly five minutes before he was saved, police said in court filings.
The man who saved the boy has worked as a swimming instructor, according to his profile on a local swim club’s website.
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