The image shows the location where Tanisja Clyburn’s 3-year-old son was allegedly discovered wandering alone in just his underwear. The image insert displays Tanisja Clyburn herself. (Monroe (N.C.) Police Dept.).

A young boy, only three years old, was found in a bar’s parking lot in North Carolina, having wandered roughly a quarter-mile from a place where his mother had left him behind — seemingly without concern.

Tanisja Clyburn, who wore a wide smile in her booking photo, was taken into custody on Friday after her son was discovered “wandering in his underwear without any adult supervision in sight,” according to police in Monroe. In a statement shared on Facebook, they indicated that the 26-year-old mother allegedly left the child at a residence without ensuring someone was there to care for him.

The police reported that the boy then ventured away from the home, traversing “several streets,” and eventually crossed a road. Around 10 a.m. on Friday, several onlookers alerted 911 about “a small child wandering unaccompanied around Concord Avenue,” the statement from Monroe Police disclosed.

“A compassionate passerby secured the child safely and stayed with him until officers arrived approximately three minutes later,” the police mentioned. It seems the boy had traveled more than a quarter-mile from the original location and was ultimately located by concerned citizens “in the parking lot of The Spot Bar and Grill.”

Law enforcement stated they were able to quickly identify the youngster — and discovered that Friday’s occurrence wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

“This marks the second incident in recent months where the same child was located on Concord Avenue without adult supervision,” the statement said. The boy’s 26-year-old mother had “dropped the child off at a relative’s home without notifying anyone and then left the location herself,” according to police.

Clyburn has been charged with misdemeanor child abuse. Police noted that the investigation is ongoing, and that the “appropriate child protective services have been notified.”

Monroe is located around 25 miles southeast of Charlotte.