PLANO, Texas — Plano police say new parents surrendered their hour-old infant at a local business Wednesday, and an employee helped save the child.
Angela Owens was behind the counter at Hieline Mobility Solutions, just off US-75, when a man walked in asking for help for his girlfriend and baby. Thinking the child might be choking, Owens ran outside to help.
“I open the passenger door to see a young girl sitting there with a newborn baby in her lap wrapped in a towel,” Owens said.
It was just after 2 p.m. and the parents said their newborn was just an hour old. The mother said she didn’t even know she was pregnant.
Tabatha Peri was also working at the store and grabbed a wheelchair to help, but the mother stayed in the car. Peri and Owens said the pair looked shocked and frightened and they explained to the couple how to surrender the child at a Safe Haven location.
Instead, Owens said she could take the child to a safe place herself. On the phone with 911, she helped tie the umbilical cord with a string.
“There was no thought,” Owens said. "We had to do what we had to do. There’s no other option at that point.”
Both Peri and Owens have three kids of their own and said they felt for the shocked parents, who they said appeared to be teenagers.
“I hope they don’t end up in trouble because I feel like they did the right thing,” Peri said. “That’s what’s killing me right now.”
“I didn’t want them to leave the parking lot and then them not make it to one of those safe haven spots,” Owen said.
The child is healthy with a full head of hair and was treated at a hospital. Police spoke to the mother, who received treatment as well.
“Did some moving, did some crying,” Owens said of the newborn. “She was trying to suckle on her fist to try to get food.”
“We’re mostly concerned about the child and the mother,” said Jennifer Chapman, a Plano Police Spokesperson. “We want to make sure they get the care that they need.”
The Safe Haven Law, also known as the Baby Moses Law, allows any newborn under 60 days old to be taken to any hospital or fire station in Texas, but the child must be handed to someone, not left outside.
In the past five years, 175 children have been surrendered statewide through the program, including 28 since last September.
Chapman said it’s too soon to know if there will be charges. She called Owens and Peri a "saving grace" and said she’s thankful the wrong place to take a child turned out to be the perfect one.
“I’m proud of them for asking for help,” Owens said. “That doesn’t happen all the time.”