Attempted Kidnapping of Newborn Foiled in Oxnard
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OXNARD — Police were searching late Wednesday for a woman dressed in nursing garb who unsuccessfully tried to snatch a baby boy from St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard.
Police and hospital officials said a Latino woman in her mid-20s with long dark hair walked into the obstetrics unit about 6:50 p.m., picked up a newborn boy and tried to walk out.
Police said a door alarm was triggered as the woman left the unit. Confronted by hospital staff, the woman handed the baby over and ran across the street into the Wal-Mart parking lot. The child was not harmed, police spokesman David Keith said.
Police canine units and sheriff’s helicopters mounted an extensive search throughout the shopping area, nearby housing tracts and sprawling farm fields to no avail.
Hospital officials would say little about the kidnapping attempt.
“I can tell you the incident was handled according to our procedures and our procedures worked,” hospital nursing supervisor Sue Crews said. “The baby was retrieved.”
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