WATERVILLE (AP) – A Waterville couple has been charged with child neglect for the second time in two weeks after the couple’s 3-year-old son was found in the street in his pajamas.

Waterville police Officer William Bonney said the boy, Zakary, was discovered by a neighbor Thursday stepping into the street where the family lives in a first-floor apartment.

Bonney said that police found Zakary and his 2-year-old brother, Trevor, in the street under similar circumstances two weeks ago. The family lives on Silver Place, which is a side street off of Silver Street, a busy thoroughfare.

The boys’ parents, Kirt and Zandra Lorom, face penalties of up to $2,000 and one year in jail on the charge, Bonney said.

Zandra Lorom, who picked her son up at the Waterville Police Department later Thursday morning, said she woke up at 8:50 a.m. and realized that her son was missing.

She said Zakary managed to unlock three deadbolt locks on the front door of the apartment to gain his freedom.

“He is a very, very clever little boy,” she said. “I’ve even been in the room with him to watch him (unlock the deadbolts).”

Lorom said when Zakary got outside the house the same way two weeks earlier with Trevor, it almost ended in tragedy.

“Trevor almost got creamed by an SUV, according to an officer,” she said. “It was not good.”

Linda Bemis, an upstairs neighbor who baby-sits for the Loroms, described the couple as good parents and was sympathetic about the two incidents with their children.

“I told her she may have to padlock the (front) door,” Bemis said.

AP-ES-04-09-04 0216EDT