Yesterday afternoon, a five month old baby boy was found alone in a car parked at Bloomfield's Home Depot. Captain Chris Goul at BPD tells Baristanet a shopper spotted the sleeping baby and a dog in a vehicle and reported it to an off-duty Bloomfield police officer working there.
The officer immediately went out to the car, removed the baby and turned him over to security. "We don't know how long the baby was left there, but the hood of the car was ice cold," says Goul. Minutes later, when security went back outside to check on the car, it was gone.
The baby was taken by ambulance to Mountainside Hospital, determined to be in good health, and turned over to the Division of Youth and Family Services. The pet was taken to Bukowski Animal Shelter.
Where were the parents? Captain Goul says from the store's security video, it appears that the driver of the car saw what was happening and took off to get the baby's mother. Mother Paulette Williams, 35, of East Orange and driver Carlos Lizarbe, 39, of Newark both appeared at police headquarters within the hour to get the baby back. That was not going to happen. Williams explained she had entrusted her baby's care to Lizarbe when he went on an errand. Lizarbe was arrested and charged with endangerment of a minor. Williams had $5,000 of outstanding warrants and was also arrested.
Thank god they didn't take the baby to the Bukowski Animal Shelter!