A Minnetonka mother drove home drunk to find police there because she had left her 6-year-old son alone in the apartment, authorities said.

Jillian R. Neimeyer, was apprehended Saturday morning and booked on suspicion of misdemeanor child endangerment and third-degree drunken driving, a gross misdemeanor, police said Monday. Her son was placed in protective custody, said Police Chief Mark Raquet.

A preliminary breath test measured Neimeyer's blood-alcohol content at 0.111, above the legal limit for driving in Minnesota, said Raquet said.

The boy awoke Saturday and saw that he was alone in the apartment in the 19000 block of Stratford Road, the chief said.

He went to the apartment of neighbor, who called police, Raquet added.

Raquet said it was "absolutely a good thing" that the neighbor acted quickly and notified police.

"We were just there, and she just pulled up," the chief said. "We approached her and asked where she was at. She smelled of alcohol and admitted that she had been drinking the night before someplace."

Neimeyer contended to police that she was gone for just 30 minutes to run to the store, Raquet said. She was cited and jailed for a few hours while her son was taken to the St. Joseph's Home for Children in Minneapolis.

Neimeyer's criminal history in Minnesota includes convictions for drunken driving in 2006 and for disorderly conduct in 2011. Neimeyer was not immediately available to comment on her case.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482