Child, 5, Injured Head After Mom Left Him Alone at McDonald's For Half Hour: Cops

A 5-year-old boy injured his head after his mother left him alone at a McDonald’s indoor playground while she went grocery shopping, police said.

Linda Jaber, 40, was jailed Wednesday night on a charge of child endangerment in connection with the June 11 incident at the Bell Road McDonald’s in Homer Glen. Jaber only spent about five hours at the Will County lockup before she was released on $1,000 bond.

Deputies were reportedly sent to the McDonald’s after the boy hurt his head. A McDonald’s worker told the deputies she saw Jaber “enter the restaurant with a 5-year-old child and then leave without the child, enter a vehicle and drive away,” police said.

“The employee said the child was alone in the play area for approximately 30 minutes,” according to police. “During that time the child fell and struck his head causing a bruise on his forehead.”

When Jaber, a Worth resident, returned to the store, she was told of her son’s injury and was advised to take him to the Silver Cross Emergency Care facility on 143rd Street, police said. The deputies went there to question her and she reportedly told them “she went to Aldi to shop for a little bit.”

The deputies called the Department of Children and Family Services and the boy was picked up from the emergency care facility by a relative, police said.