Police arrested a 27-year-old Lawrence woman late last week on suspicion of leaving her 4-year-old son at home alone.

A neighbor called police around 10 p.m. Thursday after seeing the boy walking alone on 24th Street near Iowa Street, according to a report. Police talked to the boy, who said his mom wasn’t home, and tried with no success to reach a guardian, according to a report.

Eventually the boy was taken into protective custody, and officers left a business card behind at the apartment.

The mother eventually called police and explained that she had an emergency call from a parent who lives out of town and who has a debilitating disease, police said. The woman told police her husband was at work, and she couldn’t take the boy along because he has a fear associated with the sick family member, according to a report.

Thinking he would sleep through the night, she said, she left him alone about 8:30 p.m.

The woman, identified as Cory L. Bryan, was arrested Friday for “abandonment of a child,” according to jail records. She was released on bond and ordered to appear in court June 2.