Mother Takes Plea Deal After Allegedly Forcing Son to Use Pringles Can as Toilet

A 45-year-old Indiana mother took a plea deal and was sentenced to 2½ years in Allen County Community Corrections Residential Services for felony intimidation and misdemeanor false informing after allegedly locking her son in a closet, forcing him to use a Pringles can as a toilet, and giving him pills that made him feel intoxicated. The Fort Wayne Police Department arrested Angie Harlan in August after her son ran away from his foster family. She allegedly denied having the boy in her custody before two officers and a Department of Child Services caseworker found him under a bed. The terms of the plea agreement dismissed two neglect charges, a confinement charge, and an additional false informing charge. Those charges carried a potential sentence of nearly 20 years. According to WPTA in Indiana, the situation began in August when the boy, whose age was not publicly available, was reported missing. The boy called Harlan on August 17, told her that he had run away from his foster family, and gave her the address where he was staying. Harlan communicated with a woman who provided her with the address. She then picked her son up and allegedly hid him in a closet secured with a keyed padlock. The boy told officers that he was locked in a closet and forced to urinate in a Pringles can so that he would not be found, according to court documents. However, Harlan gave him a phone so that he could watch videos, and the boy told officers that he had been fed. Officers reported that the Pringles can was about half full of urine.

Angie Harlan

Felony neglect of a dependent (2 counts), confinement, intimidation, false informing.#FortWayne #Indiana #Mugshawty pic.twitter.com/mz2B7pRveI — Hoosier Mugshawtys (@IN_Mugshawtys) August 25, 2025

Harlan allegedly called her mother, and they discussed the possibility of the boy moving to Arizona. As of publication, it was not known where the boy was staying. Additionally, the boy told investigators that his mother gave him pills, which Harlan claimed were Tylenol, to help him sleep. However, an officer located prescription bottles for 75 mg of pregabalin, which is used to treat nerve pain and certain types of seizures, and 25 mg of hydroxyzine, an anti-anxiety medication. It was unclear whether Harlan or the boy had been prescribed the medications. The boy also acknowledged that his mother was “passed out” after taking the pills. When speaking with the officers, the son said that he knew what Tylenol was and that the pills in question definitely weren’t Tylenol. Harlan reportedly was “enraged” and swore at officers. She also allegedly told a DCS worker that she was going to kill the employee’s children, told an officer that she hoped his children would die, and threatened to kill her own son. “Nobody’s taking my [expletive] kid,” she allegedly told the officers. Harlan’s next stop is the Allen County Community Corrections Residential Services facility, which was built in 2020. The ACCC's website says that it serves as an alternative to incarceration for Moderate to High-risk post-conviction felony individuals ordered by the Allen Circuit or Superior Courts." “Through this sentencing alternative, CCRS participants are afforded the opportunities to obtain and maintain employment and participate in evidence-based rehabilitative programming and services, while minimizing the risk to the community with strict 24/7 supervision and accountability in a residential setting, and while on GPS Electronic Monitoring, if court-ordered,” the website reads. “When appropriate, CCRS participants work toward transitioning from residential placement to Home Detention/GPS Electronic Monitoring as an enhanced incentive model."