Police: Muncie mom was too drunk to care for sons

MUNCIE – A local mother was arrested late Monday after police said she was too drunk to care for her sons, including a 4-year-old boy only a few days removed from brain surgery.

Brena Marie Berardicelli, 27, of the 4100 block of South Pinewood Drive, also allegedly slapped a pregnant neighbor who had provided shelter to Berardicelli’s boys after they fled from their mother’s apartment.

She was preliminarily charged with neglect of a dependent, battery and public intoxication, and was being held in the Delaware County jail on Tuesday under a $5,000 bond.

Police were called to the Southern Pines public housing complex about 11:15 p.m. after residents reported Berardicelli was loudly arguing with her boyfriend outside.

A neighbor told police that after Berardicelli chased her boyfriend outside, her two sons, both under the age of 8, ran to the neighbor’s house “for safety,” according to an affidavit.

The younger boy recently underwent brain surgery, the document said, and was not wearing a safety helmet, as instructed by physicians, an officer wrote.

The neighbor, who is four months pregnant, said Berardicelli slapped her in the face after being told to “take her drunk self home.”

The older of the boys told police he and his brother went to the neighbor’s apartment because their mother was “drunk” and throwing compact discs at them. Child Protective Services officials placed the boys in the care of a grandparent.

A breath test measured Berardicelli’s blood-alcohol content at 0.263 percent, more than three times the legal limit for motorists.

A driving-while-intoxicated charge filed against Berardicelli in March is pending in Muncie City Court.

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.