Apr 09, 2020

Omaha police make arrest in case of abandoned newborn

Posted Apr 09, 2020 2:35 PM

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Police have announced an arrest in the case of a newborn baby wrapped in plastic and abandoned on an Omaha doorstep earlier this week.

Maria Piaz-Perez, 28, is suspected of leaving the 7-pound baby boy on Vicente Cruz's front porch Monday, police said. Investigators used witness accounts and security video to find Piaz-Perez and arrest her Wednesday, police said. She has been charged with child abuse and abandonment.

Cruz reported that the baby boy was wrapped in a baby blanket inside a plastic bag and left on his front porch just before noon Monday. Cruz said his wife saw a young woman get out of a car at the home's front curb, run up to the porch with a package, lay the package on a chair, then run back to the car, which sped off. The woman had a hoodie pulled over her face, Cruz said.

The couple called 911, and an ambulance took the baby to a hospital. Doctors determined the baby is healthy.