UPDATE: The suspect has been identified as Grisel Ramirez.
A 46-year-old woman was arrested Monday after she was stopped while allegedly stealing a baby from Garden Grove Hospital/Medical Center.
According to Lt. Jeff Nightengale of the Garden Grove Police Department, the woman – identified further only as a female Hispanic – posed as an employee of the facility, dressed in scrubs.
She walked into a hospital room where a woman and her newborn infant were laying in bed. Then, said Lt. Nightengale, the suspect distracted the mother’s attention by telling the woman to take a shower. Once she left the room, the suspect placed the infant into a large tote bag and walked out of the room, it’s alleged.
“An alarm went off when the baby crossed an imaginary line” in the hospital that set off a sensor, Lt. Nightengale said. An alert employee responded and the woman was stopped before leaving, and the infant returned safely to the mother.
“The hospital staff reacted as they should,” he said.
The woman was arrested on a kidnapping charge and police believe this attempt may not have been her first.
“At this point we don’t have a solid reason why she stole the baby,” said Lt. Nightengale.
Grisel Ramirez
