May 20, 2008 9:00 pm US/Eastern
Mom, Son Found Wandering On Berks Co. Train Tracks
EXETER TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS 3) ―
Police in Berks County have released more details after the discovery of a young child on a set of train tracks and his mother in the Schuylkill River Monday afternoon.
Engineers from the Norfolk Southern Rail Lines contacted police after noticing a woman and child on the tracks in Exeter Township at about 4:00 p.m.
Police said the child, a four-year-old boy, was just wearing socks and had "substantial injuries to his body."
The woman, identified as 27-year-old Christy Petitjean, fled the scene and was later found in the waters of the Schuylkill River. Authorities said she was not wearing any pants at the time.
River rescue crews from Reiffton and Birdsboro fire companies were able to safely pull the woman from the water.
"They were able to recover the woman about a mile east of Route 82 in the river," Officer Kurt Unterkoefler said.
Both the woman and young child were taken to Reading Hospital. The child has been released into his grandparents' custody.
Police said Petitjean was under the influence of an unknown substance when she became suspicious someone was inside her home. Frightened, she took her young son and fled, somehow ending up on the rail lines.
Petitjean has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, reckless endangerment, delay of railroad operation and related charges.
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