Mother of boy found on highway guilty of child neglect

The mother of a child with autism who was 5 when he was seen running across Highway 32 in the Town of Grafton by a sheriff’s deputy who had to lock up the brakes of his patrol vehicle to avoid hitting the child in August 2025 pleaded guilty last week to three reduced charges of child neglect.

The pleas of Rebecca B. Hammond, 46, were accepted by Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Sandy Williams, who found her guilty of three misdemeanor counts during a March 10 hearing. Hammond had been charged with felony child neglect, but that charge was amended as part of a plea agreement.

Williams withheld a jail sentence and placed her on probation for two years, a condition of which is that she only have supervised contact with the child unless otherwise authorized by her probation agent or the Department of Health Services.

According to a criminal complaint, at 5:47 a.m. Friday, Aug. 15, Cpl. Timothy Whalen of the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office was driving north on Highway 32, which is a four-lane highway, when he spotted the child running across the northbound lanes near Frontage Road north of I-43.

Whalen slammed on his brakes, skidding to a stop about 10 feet from the child. As he was attempting to get out of his vehicle to grab the child, the boy ran back across the northbound lanes and into traffic in the southbound lanes.

The driver of a minivan who was headed toward the child never slowed or swerved but didn’t hit the boy.

With more traffic approaching, Whalen activated the emergency lights on his vehicle and blocked both southbound lanes to shield the child. The driver of a pickup truck had to skid to a stop to avoid hitting the patrol vehicle and child.

Whalen grabbed the child, then saw Hammond standing in the parking lot of the nearby apartment complex where they live. She said she was upstairs when she realized the child was outside, the complaint states.

Whalen noted the child has a history of running away from home and onto Highway 32, according to the complaint.

On April 14, a passerby reported the child was running in traffic on the highway. Hammond told a deputy at the time the child escaped through a window, adding that she would install locks on the windows and a safety lock on the front door.

A day later, another passerby reported the child was playing in the median of Highway 32. Hammond told a deputy the child escaped the home through a living room window while she was in the bathroom. She was again counseled to lock her windows.

On May 30, a passerby reported the child was running in traffic on the highway again, forcing several drivers to take evasive action. A babysitter was caring for the child at the time and said he slipped out of his car seat and ran onto the highway.

On July 10, Hammond called 911 after the child fell out of a first floor window, injuring his leg. The child was taken by ambulance to Children’s Wisconsin hospital in Milwaukee.

Hammond told authorities she installed a plastic cover on the doorknob but the child figured out how to open the door.

During last week’s hearing, Williams ordered Hammond to participate in drug and/or alcohol counseling and treatment as deemed appropriate by her probation agent as well as parenting classes.