Mom arrested after kids walk through traffic, play at Pflugerville Walgreens

Deundra Williams was born on January 1, 1986...so her birthday was Sunday.  According to court documents filed by Pflugerville Police, she left at some point that afternoon for a birthday BBQ in her honor.  The problem is -- apparently she left her very-young kids home alone for hours and they went for a walk.

"We received a call a little after 11:00 that there were several children at the Walgreens store on West Pecan Street and there were no parents or guardians around the children," said Pflugerville Assistant Police Chief Jim McLean.

When Pflugerville Police got there, they found 5 children as old as 12-years-old and as young as 4 and 1.  Police say the 1-year-old wore socks with no shoes.  The kids were opening toys and playing with them in the aisle.

It's unclear if all of the children belonged to Williams but they told the officer they hadn't seen their mother in hours and hadn't eaten for as long.

According to Pflugerville Police documents its .8 miles from the Walgreens to where Williams lives on Broken Feather Trail.  And that's a very dangerous 17-minute walk.

Police say the children had to have walked along Settlers Valley, a neighborhood road with heavy traffic, Heatherwilde Blvd, a 4-lane divided road.  And the children were actually seen crossing West Pecan, a major roadway with a 50-mile-per-hour speed limit.

"There's no reason to let children of that age wander around.  There's no reason for you to leave an area that you're 45 minutes away from children that age especially a 1-year-old," McLean said.
 
Police say Williams was contacted by phone.  When she got to Walgreens she was taken into custody for driving with an invalid license  

She's charged with abandoning or endangering a child.  Assistant Chief Jim McLean says this call was unusual.

"This normally doesn't happen.  I've probably only seen this twice in my career," he said.

Pflugerville Police say CPS is involved in the case. 
               
Assistant Chief McLean says it's up to the D.A. whether these charges will be applied to each of the children.
               
Meanwhile Williams is at the Travis County Jail with a $75,000 bail.  She can't see her kids without supervision.