Terrifying footage showed a pickaxe-wielding woman smashing her way into a stranger’s home where their baby was sleeping.
Beverly Baker wielded the weapon and smashed through windows of the family home in Pasadena, California, coming just inches away from the newborn baby inside.
The 65-year-old returned multiple times to the home during her vicious and unexplained attack.
The grandmother of the newborn inside watched in horror as the attacker smashed into the front of the house with the pickaxe, almost showering her six-week-old granddaughter with glass.
Investigators have said that Baker may have been suffering from mental illness but this has not been confirmed.
The terrifying footage shows Baker walking up to the house the first time and shattering a window with the pickaxe. She then walks off and returns, walking along the front of her house, taking her time to smash each window in turn.
Homeowner Arman Tchoukadarian said his family felt like they had lost their “safe place” following the out of the blue attack.
He estimated around $20,000 (£17,238) of damage had been done,
Mr Tchoukadarian’s mother-in-law was home alone with the baby when Baker walked up to the property, carrying the pickaxe.
She managed to snatch the baby away from the window just before Baker shattered it - only for Baker to later return to the scene multiple times.
Tchoukadarian told KTLA : “If my mother-in-law didn't act as fast as she did, my daughter wouldn't be here.
“She broke one window, went back. My mother-in-law came out screaming and yelling to get my attention.
“Police found her, nonchalant, walking with a pickaxe on her back, like she'd just finished working with it.”
Baker returned to the terrified family multiple times, with the pickaxe, and was said to have shouted: “Questions? Questions anyone? I'll be back, get out.”
Pasadena Police arrested her at her home, just a few streets away from where the attack had taken place.
But Baker had refused to surrender to officers for around half an hour before she was eventually taken into custody to face charges of felony vandalism.
Tchoukadarian said his family has been traumatised by the horrific incident. But he added: “She needs to be in the right place, getting the right help.
“That's no excuse to go attack someone's family, attack someone's newborn and ruin their dream home, and ruin their life and sanity.”
