Bullhead City, AZ - A distraught woman who called police after spotting a bruised and bloodied 3-year-old boy in a shopping cart in a local store is being credited with saving the child's life, Bullhead City police said.

Officers who arrived at the Wal-Mart store found the malnourished and dehydrated boy with bruises all over his body, dried blood on his mouth and rope marks on his wrists where he had apparently been tied up, police spokeswoman Emily Montague said Friday.

The boy was slumped over in the shopping cart and unresponsive.

His mother, Mitzie Dawn Hadsall, 25, was arrested on aggravated assault, child neglect and endangerment charges after an investigation. Montague said Hadsall physically abused her son and would keep him locked in a closet for days while denying him food and water as a form of punishment.

Paramedics took the boy to a local hospital for treatment after he was found on Wednesday afternoon. When police arrived at the hospital, several nurses were crying and a staff member told police that the boy had asked her if she was going to tie him up, Montague said.

The woman who spotted the child in the Wal-Mart likely saved his life, Montague said.

''She thought the little boy was wearing Halloween makeup, the bruises were so bad on his face and body,'' Montague said. ''She immediately called police for suspected child abuse when she realized it wasn't Halloween makeup, it was bruises.''

Montague said the boy was obviously malnourished, with sunken-in face and eyes.

Hadsall lived in a home with her ex-boyfriend, his current girlfriend and her two young children, and the current girlfriend's mother, Montague said.

There was no indication the other children had been abused, but the ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend's mother were arrested.

All three were in custody at the Mohave County jail in Kingman on Friday, sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter said. Hadsall was being held on $100,000 bond.

She made an initial court appearance on Thursday but did not enter a plea.

Mohave County Public Defender Dana Hlavac said his office has not yet assigned an attorney to the cases.

The boy was flown to a hospital in Las Vegas for additional treatment and will be placed in the care of Child Protective Services when he is released, Montague said. He was initially in serious condition but has since been upgraded to fair.