ST. JOHNSBURY — A Vermont man has pleaded not guilty to cruelty to a child for allegedly passing out drunk while two toddlers in his care ran around barefoot up and down a street.

Tommy Stone pleaded not guilty last week in a St. Johnsbury courtroom.

An affidavit cited by the Caledonian-Record said police received a call May 4 that two boys ages 2 and 3 were running down the middle of a street unsupervised. When police arrived, they found the 33-year-old Stone asleep on a sofa with an alcoholic beverage in one hand and a TV remote in the other.

Police said a breath test showed Stone had a blood alcohol content nearly twice the legal limit for driving.

The children, one belonging to Stone and one to his girlfriend, were unharmed.