NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – A North Miami mother was arrested over the weekend after police said she beat her son with a wooden stick and threw him to the floor.
The incident was reported around 7 p.m. Saturday in the 2200 block of Sole Mia Way.
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According to the woman’s arrest report, her daughter witnessed the beating and ran to a security guard before police were called.
North Miami police said the victim told responding officers that his mother, Carolina Barco, 33, was upset with him because he didn’t do his chores.
He said she became irate, grabbing a thick wooden stick and striking him multiple times on both his arms with it, according to the report.
The report states Barco also struck her son with an open hand on his face and body, squeezed his face with both her hands and then threw him to the floor.
Police said he sustained a small cut on the right side of his face and a cut to his left thumb, which also appeared to be slightly swollen.
Large bruises were also spotted on his arms, authorities said.
According to the report, the victim told police he did not want to go back inside the home with his mother.
Police said Barco denied hitting her son, but said she left her kids alone for about 20 minutes and returned to find the house a mess.
She claimed her son didn’t help clean up after she told him to do so and had been inside playing video games.
Barco was arrested on a child abuse charge.
As of Monday afternoon, she remained held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $5,000 bond.
The boy’s age was not released by police.
It’s not clear who is currently caring for Barco’s two children.