MIAMI (WSVN) - Police have located and arrested the mother of a young child who was dropped off at a local hospital.
City of Miami Police tweeted the update, Wednesday morning.
Carolina Vizcarra, 33, now faces child abandonment charges.
Police said the child was dropped off by Vizcarra to an off-duty plain-clothed officer near the Mercy Hospital complex.
“One of our Miami Police officers was in plain clothes attending to a family matter at a nearby hospital when he was approached by an unknown woman who had a toddler in hand and claimed that she wanted to go to the restroom and to please watch after this little girl,” said Miami Police spokesperson Kenia Fallat.
As the woman entered the restroom, the officer had a feeling something seemed odd about the request.
Investigators said Vizcarra also gave the officer her child’s social security card before taking off.
“He went into officer mode, waiting for this unknown woman to come out of the actual restroom and she just vanished,” said Fallat.
The safe haven law which allows parents to leave their unharmed newborns at hospitals does not apply.
“Safe haven program only applies to infants who are seven days or younger,” Fallat said. “Clearly, this was not the issue.”
According to police, the officer tried to follow the woman after she came out of the bathroom, but she disappeared without a trace.
“He tried to follow her with toddler in hand. He got as much information as he could as to where she was last seen fleeing and asked for help,” Fallat said.
She is said to have come back looking for the 2-year-old and told police, “It’s not like I just left her. It’s a hospital, and I was worried for her. I was thinking about sleeping on the streets but not her.”
The child was placed in the care of the Florida Department of Children and Families but is now staying with an aunt.
Vizcarra appeared before a judge on Wednesday afternoon and revealed she’s a domestic violence victim from California who is homeless.
“I really was hoping to get closer to my family because that’s what’s been affecting me to be so alone in here, having all of this responsibility,” she told Judge Mindy Glazer. “I have full custody of my daughter. I did paternity classes.”
She later asked Judge Glazer, “I’m staying in jail?”
To which Judge Glazer replied, “I’m releasing you to a program that will supervise you and help you find housing.”
She was ordered to not have any contact with her daughter.
“There’s no contact with the child either directly, indirectly, in person, in writing by telephone or through third parties,” said Judge Glazer.
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