Jersey City Restaurant CCTV Footage Shows Moment Teen Leaves Newborn With Customer
A 14-year-old girl left her newborn baby with a customer at a Jersey City restaurant and fled on May 19.
Frankie Aguilar, the owner of the restaurant El Patron, in the city’s Greenville neighborhood, provided Storyful with the CCTV footage showing the teen coming in, talking to employees and customer Alease Scott, and leaving the baby with Scott.
Walter A Cocca, Scott’s boyfriend, livestreamed the incident, and was in disbelief.
Cocca can be heard in the video explaining what happened.
“I’m at my neighborhood restaurant with my special friend and a lady comes in and hands her a baby, apparently a newborn, and runs out,” Cocca says in the video.
The CCTV footage shows the teen girl approach the counter then sit down with the baby wrapped in brown cloth. Scott can be seen walking up to the girl.
In a follow-up video from the couple, Scott, who is trained in first aid and CPR, said she asked if she could check the baby’s vitals and noticed the baby needed oxygen. Scott said they needed to call 911, and the mother walked out of the restaurant, leaving the newborn with her.
First responders quickly showed up and began to question the couple about the mother’s whereabouts. They also gave Scott oxygen to administer to the infant, who began to cry shortly thereafter.
According to local reports, the teen mother was found, and Cocca posted a screenshot with an update from Jersey City Detective Joe Chidichimo, informing them that the baby is “perfectly healthy” and the mother is doing well too.
The baby girl will be put up for adoption, and at this point, the 14-year-old is not facing charges, according to local reports.
Storyful reached out to the Jersey City PD but did not receive a response at the time of publishing. Credit: El Patron – Jersey City via Storyful
