Texas has shut down a child care facility after a 5-year-old boy left the building through an open door, walked across a high-traffic street and spent part of the afternoon at a Hooters restaurant.

A Denton Imagination Station was shut down Wednesday by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the Denton Record-Chronicle reported.

"We intend to revoke their license, but that hasn't happened yet," said Marissa Gonzales, agency spokeswoman. "Licensing investigators will be out there to make sure they are complying with that."

While the Hooters incident was the main reason for the order, Gonzales said the state had other concerns about the center as well.

"Obviously, supervision is a concern," she said.

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The facility received warnings earlier in the year for its lack of supervision. Rather than inspecting once a year, state workers have stopped by on a monthly basis.

Denton police say the little boy exited the back door July 23 at 4:51 p.m., walked into a Pep Boys auto parts store, grabbed a pack of gum and left.

Detective Shane Kizer told the Record-Chronicle the 5-year-old crossed Dallas Drive, a busy road off of Interstate 35E, and entered a RaceTrac convenience store. Surveillance videos show him helping himself to more gum and a root beer from the refrigerator.

After the child left the store, he wandered into Hooters, a restaurant with scantily clad waitresses, the Record-Chronicle reported. The girls called police, who later found him on the interstate service road.

"He was about to cross, and from there, it was the interstate, which is a very dangerous place," Kizer said. "My hat is off to the employees of Hooters.

"They may very well have saved his life."

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