A woman posing as a social worker has surrendered after allegedly trying to kidnap a newborn in Santa Ana on Friday.
The woman was caught on cellphone video by the mother of the newborn as she was leaving their residence on the 2300 block of Evergreen Street and Warner Avenue in Santa Ana. The attempted kidnap happened at 11:30 a.m.
“A lady is coming to my house and she tried to take my newborn,” the mother of the newborn said. “She said she’s coming from child services and I said ‘give me your order that you’re coming from child services’ and she said ‘when I give you the papers, you have to give me the child’.”
Santa Ana Police Department Corporal Anthony Bertagna said this is not how social workers operate.
“We have social workers that work in our department,” he said, “we’ve contacted them, this is not how they operate. They carry identification.”
The woman posing as a social worker went to the police station and surrendered herself. The mother went to the police station and identified the suspect.
Police are praising the mother for refusing to give her child and turning the camera on the woman.