Iowa City mom arrested after children found alone, climbing on roof

A 31-year-old Iowa City mother was arrested late Sunday after police reported finding her four children alone, running around and climbing on the roof of the family's mobile home.

Officers were called to Forest View Trailer Court, 1205 Laura Drive in Iowa City, at 8:40 p.m. Sunday after a witness reported the four children had been unsupervised for hours, according to a criminal complaint.

When police arrived, they reported talking with one of the children, who said his 6-year-old sister had been on the roof but had since run off. Officers found a 12-year-old sleeping inside, and when he awoke, the child said he didn't know the whereabouts of his mother, according to the complaint.

“When asked if he was in charge, (he) stated, ‘Not that I know of,'” police reported.

Police called the children's mother, Norma Barraza Cardona, at 8:50 p.m. and asked her to come home, according to the complaint. Cardona arrived at the mobile home around 9:20 p.m., according to police, and said she left her children “because they didn't want to go with her.”

Cardona was arrested on a charge of child endangerment, without injury, and booked into the Johnson County Jail at 9:51 p.m. She was released at 12:05 a.m.