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Sacramento Mother Accused Of Leaving Toddlers To Gamble

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A Sacramento mother is accused of leaving her two young children home alone to go gambling.

Linh Hoang
Linh Hoang

Chu-moo Jurado was on her way to pick up her own children from school when she stopped behind a car that was trying not to hit the two toddlers about to cross a busy street — alone.

"It was so scary," Jurado said. "I'm like, 'Oh my gosh!' My adrenaline was high. I was like, 'What to do? What to do?'"

What she did was start a frantic search for the parents of the brothers, ages 2 and 3. They were described as hungry, in dirty diapers, clothes soaking wet.

Police say the boys' mother, Linh Hoang, 46, left her toddlers alone for hours to go gambling at Thunder Valley Casino.

Hoang was at her home in the 4100 block of Windsong St. in Natomas on Friday and answered the door for CBS13.

She claims she left her kids with her sister, but police say when they asked the relative she said it wasn't true.

"Um, she go to my mom house," Hoang said when asked where her sister was when the kids got out of the house.

Jurado says she found the toddlers next to their home with the door wide open. Inside she said cereal and milk were all over the floor and the water was running. She says the mother didn't return home until three hours after the call to 911.
"They're so cute," she said of the boys. "I feel bad for them. Hopefully everything goes all right with them."
The children are now in the custody of Child Protective Services and their mother is charged with child endangerment.

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