A rowdy sleepover party ended with a Grandmother in handcuffs.
Middletown police charged 71-year old Barbara Aiello with two counts of risk of injury to a minor after alleging she forced two children, ages 11 and 10, to walk home alone at 4:30 am Sunday in frigid temperatures.
“I said you you and you out. everybody out,” said Aiello, who has been raising her grandson, Christopher, since his father died last year.
“I opened the door. Not thinking. Not realizing the time. I was angry and said ‘go home’.”
Aiello says she had a lot on her mind that night. Her husband was in intensive care at Middlesex Hospital because of complications following a stroke.
She says the kids, who she believed to be 12 or 13, were being very loud. After repeated warnings to stop, she decided the sleepover was over.
“When things got out of hand, I went up there. I was very angry and said both of ya’s - out!”
Police say they were contacted by one the children’s parents Sunday morning when they awoke to find the kids unexpectedly home.
Handcuffs, fingerprints and sitting in a cell were not things this grandma ever experienced before.
“I felt like i had murdered somebody. That’s how i was treated.”
Aiello says she has yet to hear from either of the children's parents and wishes they would have called her before contacting police.
“Why didn’t they come over and say Mrs. Aiello, ‘why did you throw my kids out at 4:30-5 in morning? None of that.”
Middletown police say the case is continuing to be investigated. Aiello is scheduled to appear in court on February 11th.
