Mum runs over 7-year-old son after forcing him to walk home from school

A mum has been arrested after accidentally running over her own son.

Sarai Rachel James, 27, had picked up her son from school on February 9 and found out from school staff that he had gotten in trouble that morning.

Not far from the school in Boaz, Alabama, James made her seven-year-old son get out of the car and told him to walk or run the rest of the way home.

She drove beside her son for a few blocks, but when she slowed down, her son tried to grab onto the car’s door handle.

When James accelerated, her son was pulled under the car and he was run over with a rear tyre, Boaz chief of police Michael Abercrombie said.

“She may not have realised he was doing that,” he added.

Investigators believe James accidentally ran over her son – but said he never would have been in that situation if his mother hadn’t decided to punish him.

He was taken to the University of Alabama hospital but thankfully only suffered abrasions on his back and side of the head.

James was arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse. She was released on a $50,000 bond three days later and is barred from having any contact with her son.

Another woman, 53, who was also in the car, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and has been released on a $500 bond.