Woman allegedly beats, chokes boy in Lake Stevens

LAKE STEVENS — A Lake Stevens woman is under investigation for assault after she allegedly beat and choked a boy in front of witnesses.

The woman, 34, was arrested Monday afternoon when a neighbor called police to a house in the 8700 block of 13th Street NE. The caller said a woman had been attacking a boy in a car parked in the driveway. He went to help the child, alerted by the boy’s screams.

The boy had blood on his face when officers arrived. The woman, who apparently did not speak English, was holding another, younger child.

Both children were taken from the woman and the house was searched. It was filthy, with garbage and rotting food inside, according to police.

Paramedics and state child-care workers were summoned.

The woman was arrested. She declined to talk with police through an interpreter. She was booked into the Snohomish County Jail in Everett for investigation of first-degree assault of a child and ordered held on $50,000 bail.

The woman is not the boy’s mother. He’s since been returned to family.