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A top city official announced that she was taking a leave of absence in the wake of an investigation into whether she should be charged with child endangerment.Officers found the 11-year-old daughter of Los Angeles Board of Public Works President Andrea Alarcon unattended at City Hall around 11:45 pm last Friday night, according to City News Service. Officials couldn't find Alarcon, and so they brought her daughter to a nearby police station. Alarcon turned up to pick up her daughter around 2 am.
That night there was a party at City Hall thrown by Project Restore, which is a group devoted to restoring city-owned landmarks, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Police said they have launched an investigation into whether the 33-year-old Alarcon should be charged with child endangerment because of this incident, and the county's Department of Children and Family Services has been notified. Alarcon has not been arrested.
Alarcon told Times, "My daughter and I have an extremely close relationship and as a single mother, she often accompanies me to special events for work. Out of respect for my daughter's privacy and because she is a minor, I really have nothing further to say about this matter."
Yesterday the mayor announced that Alarcon would take a leave of absence, but he told the Times that he does not believe that she should resign.
This isn't the first time Alarcon has faced legal questions about her parenting. She was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving last December and was charged with cruelty to a child, since her daughter was in the car at the time of her arrest. She pleaded not guilty and is due back in court next month, CNS reports.
Alarcon is the daughter of Councilman Richard Alarcon, who has faced legal challenges of his own.
