Mother Arrested After Leaving Toddler With A Stranger To Keep Her Off Streets

A woman who left her child with a stranger at a Florida hospital to keep the toddler off the streets has been charged with child abandonment.

Miami police arrested Carolina Vizcarra, 33, for leaving her 2-year-old daughter with an off-duty police officer at Mercy Hospital in Miami Tuesday. The mother told the man she was just going to use the restroom and handed him the toddler's social security card before walking away.

"She hands off the child to this unknown man. Luckily, he was a (Miami) police officer and what was going through his mind was (that) he went into police mode," Miami police spokesperson Kenia Fallat said as per WKMG. "He's got this little girl that he is holding and he can only go so far and follow her. He immediately called for help."

When the officers did not find the mother, they issued a "Be on the Lookout" (BOLO) for her.

Vizcarra called the police at around 5:40 p.m. on the same day, saying she was at the hospital to look for her baby. She provided a description of her child, which matched the description on the BOLO. She was arrested later that day.

"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," Vizcarra told the officers, according to the arrest report obtained by the outlet.

The toddler was previously in the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families. She is now under the care of her half-sibling's mother.

While police were looking for Vizcarra, a family member reportedly came forward to claim the child. Police are working on verifying the relationship between the said relative and the toddler. It remains unclear who will be granted the custody of the child.

Authorities are also reviewing the hospital's surveillance video.

"We want to know what her mental state was," Fallat said further as per WKMG. "We want to know what she was thinking when she was handing off her child to this unknown man."

Vizcarra, who appeared at a hearing Wednesday, told the judge she is a victim of domestic violence and has been struggling to find housing, according to WTVJ.

Florida has a Safe Haven Law that protects mothers who leave their children at a designated safe place such as hospitals, fire stations and emergency medical service facilities. However, this law only covers moms of babies who are not more than a week old.