A Denton day-care center has been shut down by the state after a 5-year-old boy walked out an open door there last week, crossed a busy street and was discovered half an hour later at a Hooters restaurant.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services ordered Imagination Station in the 2300 block of San Jacinto Boulevard to cease operation Wednesday.

On July 23, the 5-year-old boy walked out the back door of Imagination Station sometime after 4:51 p.m., according to a timeline prepared by Denton police. The boy entered a Pep Boys auto parts store, took a pack of gum and left. He then crossed Dallas Drive, a busy entranceway to the city from Interstate 35E, and entered a RaceTrac convenience store. Store security video showed him taking more gum from the front counter there and then walking to the back, where he took a root beer from a refrigerated case.

The boy left the store after about four minutes and walked west to Hooters, a restaurant and bar. The child walked in, looked around as though he were lost and quickly left.

Employees called police at 5:20 p.m. They said they followed him outside and found him at the I-35E service road.

Police say the employees of Hooters saw the boy about to cross the service road to the interstate and quite possibly saved the child’s life.