Police remove two children from intoxicated mother in Liepāja

Police in Liepāja found a woman intoxicated and two children living in unsanitary conditions after viewers reported a TikTok livestream featuring a crying baby, LSM reported. The six-month-old and two-year-old children were placed with an emergency foster family.

Officers went to the address provided by viewers and found the woman with an alcohol level of 2.29 per mille in her breath. Liepāja Municipal Police Deputy Chief Kaspars Vārpiņš said the apartment had a severe smell, bottles and an ash bucket lay on the floor, and the floor itself was sticky.

The woman became aggressive and did not comply with officers. According to Vārpiņš, she sat on a couch and sat on her infant, then tried to strike a police officer with the baby. Officers immediately took the infant away and handcuffed the woman before taking her to the municipal police temporary detention facility.

Emergency medical workers found no threats to the children’s health or lives. The children were taken to an emergency foster family.

The Liepāja Social Service said the family had been under its supervision since 2024 and had received various services. After the incident, the woman contacted the service to request a consultation and said she regretted what had happened. She will attend consultations at the Addiction Prevention Centre and receive social rehabilitation services.

The Liepāja guardianship court has decided that within 15 days it will determine whether the children can return to their parents’ care. The institution acknowledged that 15 days is a very short time to improve the situation and eliminate the risks.

Guardianship court chair Taiga Ziemele said that suspending a parent’s custody rights was not a punishment but a safety measure for the child. She said it was important for both the children’s safety and the parent to receive support in addressing the problems so that the situation could later be reassessed and the children might possibly return to parental care.