By
The Associated Press
A woman who assured authorities that she left her daughter with a stranger at a Miami hospital to keep her off the streets has been arrested on one count of child neglect, police said Wednesday.
The 33-year-old woman
asked a man to watch over the girl while she went to the bathroom and never returned
.
The stranger, who turned out to be an off-duty Miami police officer, called for help, authorities explained.
"She gave the girl to this stranger,"
police spokesman Kaina Fallat told the media.
"Luckily he was an agent and the first thing that crossed his mind was to put himself in police mode," he added.
When they yelled "they are going to take me to the baby!"
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Carolina Vizcarra was jailed on Wednesday
after telling investigators: "It's not like I left her lying down," a report details.
“It's a hospital and I was worried about her.
I was thinking of sleeping on the street, but not with her, "he defended.
The Florida Department of Children and Families took over custody of the girl
while police requested the public's help in finding her family.
Carolina Vizcarra in her arrest photo Miami Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation Center
"We want to know what his mental state was," Fallat said.
"We want to know what he was thinking when he gave his daughter to this stranger
.
"
Florida's Safe Harbor Law protects parents who drop off children in a designated safe space, but only if they are babies up to seven days old.