A Broward judge had harsh words Thursday morning for a Cooper City woman accused of getting behind the wheel of her minivan while intoxicated and passing out in the driver's seat, leaving her two barefoot toddler children to climb out and wander nearly two miles from their home.

Deputies say the children, a 3-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl, were in the minivan when Brenda Lee Duclos, 44, passed out Wednesday afternoon. After a couple of hours, the children left the vehicle and wandered away, authorities said.

The minivan, a gold Ford Windstar, was running in the driveway while Duclos was inside, according to the arrest report.

At Duclos' first court appearance Thursday, Broward County Judge John Hurley scolded the mother and vowed to personally call the Florida Department of Children & Families to make sure officials were aware of how she had endangered the children.

``Your children were found two miles away from you passed out in your driveway,'' Hurley said. ``If that's not a danger to your children, then I don't know what is, ma'am, short of having a loaded gun with them.''

When deputies arrived, Duclos refused to submit to a breath-alcohol test.

Duclos' husband, Joseph, who was at work at the time, was also upset about the accusations. He said nothing to defend his wife while outside their home Thursday afternoon.

``She's stupid,'' he said, placing the two children, who appeared to be in good health, into an SUV a few yards away from the minivan. ``She did a stupid thing.''

Acknowledging difficulty in their relationship, Duclos' husband said he hoped something good would come from the accusations. ``I hope it helps her,'' he said before driving away.

Brenda Duclos was on her way to pick up her eldest child from school when she passed out in the van, said Broward Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright. The children were trying to find their older sister at her school when they left, barefoot, she said.

The mother was charged with driving under the influence and child neglect. Thursday evening, she remained in the North Broward jail in Pompano Beach with bail set at $5,000.

A good Samaritan found the children and called authorities, saying the two were about to cross busy Palm Avenue when she spotted them just before 5 p.m., according to the arrest report. Meanwhile, Duclos' eldest child walked from her school to an uncle's nearby home when Duclos did not pick her up, Coleman-Wright said. The uncle got in touch with the deputies who were with the toddlers, Coleman-Wright said.

From there, deputies found Duclos, passed out in the driver's seat of the Windstar in her driveway on the 10400 block of Southwest 52nd Street, the report states.

Though Duclos was not driving when deputies found her, Florida statutes allow authorities to make an arrest on DUI charges in instances where a person suspected of being impaired is in physical control of a vehicle, such as sitting behind the wheel with the engine running or with the keys in the ignition.

The children remained in their father's custody Thursday, Coleman-Wright said.

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