NYPD: Woman Hands Baby Girl Off To Stranger, Runs Off After Crashing Into Fence In Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A wild scene unfolded in Queens Wednesday night when police say a driver jumped a curb, hit a pole, then slammed into a gate before leaving a baby girl behind and running off.
The child's car seat remained in the back of the smashed up Honda Civic with New Jersey license plates, after police say the woman behind the wheel smashed the vehicle into a fence at the corner of 101st Avenue and 93rd Street in Ozone Park.
Witnesses say the woman believed to be in her 20s jumped out, grabbed her one-year-old child from the car, and handed her off to a stranger before running away.
"The worst part is she just jumps out of the car, tells some random lady 'Listen, I'm gonna get arrested, take my baby', leaving behind the car and her child," the witness said. "I don't know what to do about that."
Another woman watched the scene unfold from her apartment across the street.
"She had the baby dangling off her arm, some lady leaned over and grabbed the baby because int he midst of everything you assume the baby got hurt," Ozone Park resident Kiana Velasquez said. "We didn't know what was the issue, why would she leave the baby behind like that? It was the craziest thing."
Medics arrived and rushed the child to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
The NYPD evidence collection team dusted the vehicle's door handles for fingerprints in hopes of identifying the driver of the Civic.
