Niamh Shackleton
A mom was arrested after her son was found walking on his own less than a mile from their family home.
In October, Brittany, 41, had taken one of her sons to the doctors, while her other son, Soren, stayed at home.
But while she was out, Soren decided to nip to a nearby Dollar General store, which is said to be located less than a mile from their house.
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A concerned resident saw the young boy on his own in their small town of Mineral Bluff and alerted police.
After calling Brittany to let her know her son's whereabouts, they came to collect Soren, who was unharmed, and returned him home.
The mom told NBC News: "It's not a super dangerous or even dangerous-at-all stretch of road. I wasn't terrified for him or scared for his safety."
While the family thought that that was the end of it, it wasn't long until police returned to arrest Brittany.
The moment the Georgia mom was taken into custody was filmed on one of the officer's bodycam.
In the video, Brittany asked the officers what she was being arrested for, which they confirmed was for 'reckless endangerment'.
She proceeded to question how she'd recklessly endangered her child, but another officer simply said 'we're not talking about it' and ordered her to turn around to be handcuffed.
An arrest warrant said that she'd 'willingly and knowingly did endanger the bodily safety of her juvenile son'.
Brittany Patterson was charged with reckless conduct, NBC News reports, which, if convicted, could see her face one year in jail.
Authorities have offered to drop the charges against Brittany on the basis that she signs a safety plan that includes putting a GPS tracker on her son's phone, ABC News reports.
The mom has refused to sign it, however, and has insisted that she hasn't done anything wrong.
Brittany said the whole thing has left her 'angry'.
Speaking about the emotions that followed after her arrest, she told Newsweek: "After the shock wore off, I started to get angry.
"I had an hour and a half to sit there and think about it, and I started thinking about the impact it would have on my children, seeing their mom arrested and hauled off to jail."
Brittany doubled down on denying any wrongdoing and insisted that she's not the only parent to leave their child home alone.
"I never had a question of if I did anything wrong or not," she argued.
"If they arrested everyone I know in this county that leaves their kids the same age as mine at home on a regular basis, they would have to build a huge jail."
The mother, who is currently on $500 bail, has since hired an attorney and is working with ParentsUSA to fight the charges against her.
"This is not right. I did nothing wrong." she told NBC News. "I'm going to fight for that."
UNILAD has contacted Fannin County District Attorney's Office and Georgia DFCS for comment.