Police Investigate Attempted Kidnapping of Newborn by Woman Posing as Social Worker in Santa Ana

A person of interest was speaking with police late Friday after she allegedly posed as a social worker and tried to kidnap a newborn baby from his mother at their Santa Ana home on Friday, authorities said.

The attempted kidnapping was reported about 11:30 a.m. at a home on Evergreen Street, near Warner Avenue, Santa Ana Police Corporal Anthony Bertagna told KTLA. Bertagna said the woman, who claimed to be a social worker, told the mother she needed to take her newborn son into custody. The new mom, who gave birth to her son on May 31, said she was immediately suspicious. When the woman could not provide any identification, the new mom refused to hand over her baby. At that point the woman said if she didn’t take the baby, the sheriff would come to the home. “I told her if the sheriff comes and he has to arrest me, then he can arrest me. But I am not going to give you my child,” the mother, who did not want to be named, told KTLA. Bertagna said the phony social worker finally left after the mother insisted on going with her. “The mother said, ‘Fine, I’ll come with you.’ The social worker says, ‘I don’t have any room for you in my car, and then turns around and walks away quickly,” Bertagna said.

When the woman left, the mother’s sisters were able to take video of her walking away and a photo of her white SUV. Bertagna called social services and confirmed they were unaware of any social worker who matched the woman’s description or her story about needing to take the baby into custody. “They always have identification, they always have paperwork and this is not how the process would work, so this is very concerning to us,” Bertagna said. A woman showed up at the Santa Ana Police Department Friday evening and identified herself as the woman in the video, police said. The woman told police the incident was a misunderstanding, officials said. No further details were available. Anyone with information was asked to call the Santa Ana Police Department at 714-245-8665.