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New Bedford Mom Accused Of Abandoning Child In Sub-Freezing Temperatures

MATTAPOISETT (CBS) – A New Bedford mother has been arrested for allegedly abandoning her 11-year-old son on the side of the road in sub-freezing temperatures Friday night.

Marina Johnson is charged with child endangerment after the boy says she made him get out of the car and then sped off. He says he tried to catch up with the car but it was going too fast.

He says his mother was very mad at him because she said he always "acts up."

The boy showed up on a man's doorstep in Mattapoisett asking for a ride to New Bedford. That man called police.

Marina Johnson
Marina Johnson is accused of abandoning her son in Mattapoisett (Image from Mattapoisett PD)

The boy says he, his mom and younger brother were living in a shelter after their house burned down.

When police went to the shelter, they say Johnson and her 8-year-old son ran out a back door. They were later found in knee deep water and mud in a marsh.

Police say the car Johnson was driving was reported stolen from a Dollar Store.

Johnson is being held on $25,000 bail. Her two children have been placed in foster care.

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