WEST VILLAGE — A trucker was arrested and charged with child neglect after a West Village police officer found a hungry 6-year-old boy with a broken foot in the back of a cat feces-covered trailer, sources said.
Brian Spicer, 34, of Ohio, and Malinda Kimble, 39, a transgender woman, were supposed to drive the child, who is related to Spicer, from Florida to another relative's home in West Virginia in their tractor-trailer, but took an unauthorized detour to New York, police and sources said.
The Florida Department of Children and Families had an open case on the boy and called Spicer and Kimble to check up on the child on Oct. 9 at 1:36 p.m., sources said.
When the pair had trouble convincing the Florida official that the child was fine, Kimble approached an NYPD officer near Morton and West streets and asked him to take the phone and tell the official that the youngster was in good condition, according to sources and the Manhattan District Attorney's criminal complaint.
"I have a kid inside the trailer," Kimble said, according to the complaint.
The officer found the boy sleeping on a bunk in the truck wearing dirty clothes. When he woke up, he limped while holding his right leg, according to the complaint.
The child complained to the officer that he had not been fed since the truck left Florida days earlier, sources said.
A cat was in the truck as well. Its feces were scattered throughout the trailer, according to the complaint.
The boy was taken to Beth Israel Hospital, where he was treated for a compound fracture and infection in his right foot. The city's Administration for Children's Services took him into custody.
Spicer and Kimble were arrested and charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, the DA's office said.
Spicer spent two nights in custody before being released on $500 bail. Kimble was released without bail.
A judge issued a temporary order of protection banning the pair from having contact with the boy.
A spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Children and Families declined to comment, citing that state's privacy rules regarding abused children.
Information about Kimble and Spicer's lawyers was not immediately available. They are due back in court Nov. 27.
