Dorchester mom regrets leaving children home alone

Rodriguez said she and the other mother believed all four children were asleep when they stepped out around 2:20 a.m., intending to make a brief walk to a nearby gas station to buy cigarettes.

According to police, a 911 caller reported a small child on the street, shoeless and crying, at 2:33 a.m. Police found the boy and discovered where he lived. They entered the apartment and found the three other children, all under the age of 6, sleeping in various rooms.

“The children seemed well-fed and in good condition,’’ police said in a report of the incident.

Rodriguez said that when she and her friend returned to the apartment, they learned from a neighbor that the Boston police had been called, entered the apartment, and took all four children because no adult could be found inside the apartment.

She said they were gone between 20 and 30 minutes. Police said the mothers showed up at the Area C-11 station in Dorchester around 3:25 a.m.

Alison Goodwin, spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families, said DCF is investigating.

Rodriguez said she rushed to Boston Medical Center early today where the children had been taken to be examined. “They were watching 'Spiderman,' hollering, having fun,’’ she said.

Rodriguez said DCF has placed the children with a relative of hers and that she hopes to soon be reunited with them.