Fayetteville Baby Left Home Alone During Cigarette Run, Police Say

A Fayetteville woman is free on bond after police say she left her 5-month-old baby home alone while she went out to buy cigarettes.

Rana Bayyari, 23, was arrested Wednesday in connection with felony endangering the welfare of a minor and possession of a controlled substance. She was released from the Washington County Detention Center on Thursday on $3,500 bond.

Arkansas Department of Human Services workers and a police officer arrived at Bayyari’s home Wednesday to conduct a drug screening. She drove up in her vehicle after workers had already arrived, saying she had run out for cigarettes.

When department workers asked Bayyari where her baby was, she said the child was inside with her boyfriend. Workers and the officer found only the baby inside, alone on an adult bed with a TV also lying on the bed, according to a preliminary arrest report from the Fayetteville Police Department.

Police found several kinds of prescription drugs in Bayyari’s car, the report said.

The baby was taken into protective custody.