Cops: 4 kids left alone, child wanders naked in street

Upper Darby residents who found a 2-year-old girl running naked down their street yesterday called police, who discovered that the girl and her three brothers - ages 3,6 and 8 - had been left home alone, said police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

When police arrived on scene at Clover Lane near Church, neighbors pointed officers to a house the little girl had run into, Chitwood said. A 6-year-old boy answered the door and cops found the 2- and-3-year-old children inside. The 8-year-old boy arrived home a short time later, police said.

Police called the children's mother, Christina Staley, on her cell phone. Staley, 32, claimed to have been out shopping for food and medicine but when she returned she had neither in her possession, Chitwood said.

The children were taken for medical evaluations and placed in the custody of their grandfather. Children and Youth services was alerted to the incident and Staley was charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Chitwood said this was the second time this month Staley's children have been found unattended. On March 7, the 2- and-3-year children were found in a Salvation Army parking lot alone, according to police. Staley called 911 to report her children missing that day and told police she'd left her house without telling the children's father she was going anywhere, Chitwood said. When she returned, the children had wandered out. She was not charged in connection with that incident.