Detroit police seeking information after newborn left with stranger outside Sinai Grace Hospital
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Detroit Police are looking for help identifying a man who dropped a baby off at Sinai Grace Hospital Thursday morning.
Around 9:27, a Black man in his late 40s or early 50s and about 5'10" pulled up to the hospital and asked another person who was entering the hospital to hold the baby while he went to park his vehicle. The unidentified man then left the location and never came back.
Detroit Police are concerned for the welfare of the mother. The baby was also identified as female and at the time appeared to be only a few hours old.
"The baby went in critical, she's now in serious condition," said Detroit police Capt. John Serda. "They say she's going to be all right so we're monitoring that."
Under the Safe Delivery policy, which is monitored by the state health department, a parent or parents may legally surrender a newborn no more than 3 days old.
In order for the law to be applicable, the newborn must be given to a uniformed employee who is inside or on duty at a hospital, a fire department, police station or any other emergency medical personnel. The newborn is then placed up for adoption.
The man was last seen wearing a light-colored hat, light-colored short sleeve-shirt, and light-colored pants.
He was driving an older Dodge Durango colored silver with a gold-colored rear hatch.
And although Michigan has the Safe Delivery law, the man may not have particularly followed it since the person he handed the child to was a non-uniformed employee.
"I don't think he followed the letter of the law, but the intent of the law is the wellbeing of the baby and baby was discovered to the hospital and that's a good thing," Serda said. "I do want to thank the gentleman the baby was handed off to. He took the baby inside. He was just there to visit a loved one at the hospital and he took the baby inside and got it care right away and I think that was critical," Serda said.
More than 260 newborn babies have been surrendered in Michigan since 2001. More than 100 were surrendered in Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties.
"We're not necessarily looking for anybody to arrest, we want to just know about the well-being of the mother and see if we can offer her some services," Serda said.
Police are asking that the child's mother, her relatives or anyone in a similar situation call their crisis hotline to get whatever help and resources they may need. That line, police say, is manned by social workers.
Detroit Police Victim's Assistance Program, 24/7: (313) 833-1660
MDHHS Safe Delivery Hotline: (866) 733-7733
Anyone with information can also call Detroit police at (313) 596-5329.