Diners at a New Jersey restaurant got more than they ordered this week when a girl – who had apparently just given birth – dumped her newborn baby onto them and fled the restaurant.
Frankie Aguilar, an employee at a restaurant called El Patron, told Leigh Valley Live that a girl who “looked a little bit desperate” walked in around 4pm on Wednesday with the newborn in her arms.
She apparently began asking for help. The El Patron staff called the police, thinking that law enforcement could assist the girl.
At some point between her arriving at the restaurant and police turning up, the girl apparently handed her baby – which still was attached to its umbilical cord – off to a customer, after which she disappeared.
“Once she handed the baby to someone else, one of our customers, she just left,” Mr Aguilar said.
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Police radio logs revealed that the girl was located near the restaurant and was detained for a short time before being taken to the Jersey City Medical Centre.
They also revealed that the girl was 14-years-old.
The state does have Safe Haven laws for infants.
Under New Jersey's Safe Haven Infant Protection laws, a baby's parents – or someone acting on their behalf – can drop off an infant less than 30 days old with the staff at any hospital emergency room, police station, fire station, ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad.
A child was left in the parking lot of a Massachusetts hospital last month, presumably a result of someone misunderstanding the Safe Haven law in that state or just not wanting to reveal themselves to the staff.
Some organisations even install “Safe Haven boxes” in their facilities.
The boxes open up to the outside, much like the opening of a USPS blue mailbox, and allow an individual who is surrendering a baby to safely place them in the box without having to talk to or alert any staff members.
When the boxes are opened, a silent alarm is sounded, which alerts law enforcement to the baby's presence and allows rescuers to reach the child shortly after it is abandoned.
The New Jersey Department of Children and Families said it will be moving the baby into a foster or pre-adoptive home.
