MINNEAPOLIS – A 14-year-old boy was arrested after his 3-year-old sister was found passed out drunk from hard liquor at a home, police said.
The girl was unconscious when she was taken to a hospital after her sister called police Monday night, police spokesman Lt. Greg Reinhardt said. "The child could have easily died," he said.
She was recovering and had been released to a children's home by Wednesday morning.
The girl's teenage brother was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of child endangerment, Reinhardt said. He said neglect or abuse appeared to have caused the girl's condition, rather than accidental alcohol poisoning.
Police would not release further details on the boy and any court proceedings because he is a juvenile.
The girl's blood alcohol level was 0.12 percent, authorities said. Minnesota law considers drivers drunk when their blood alcohol level is 0.08 percent.
About one ounce of 40-proof liquor would cause that blood-alcohol level in a 3-year-old child of average weight, about 28 pounds. Kirk Hughes of the Minnesota Poison Control System said one ounce would be about two mouthfuls for such a child.
Reinhardt said police don't know what kind of hard liquor the girl drank.
Reinhardt said the girl's mother was not home at the time.
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