Felony charges may be filed Tuesday against a 23-year-old woman suspected of impersonating a nurse and trying to snatch a newborn from its mother at Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley.
Jesenea Miron of Moreno Valley was arrested and booked into the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside Thursday night on suspicion of kidnapping. Miron is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
The case is under review by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Richard Fransik, about 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Miron accessed the medical center campus on Cactus Avenue and identified herself as a newly hired nurse, enabling her to enter the maternity ward.
Fransik alleged that while on the ward, the suspect entered a room occupied by a woman and her infant, introducing herself as a nurse.
“While inside the patient’s room, she attempted to take the newborn,” he said. “The suspect was confronted by hospital staff, who then notified security.”
The baby was not moved from the space and was not harmed, nor was the mother. They weren’t identified.
Miron fled before deputies assigned to the medical center could apprehend her. However, detectives followed up and were able to procure evidence confirming the suspect’s identity.
A search warrant was served at Miron’s residence on Weber Avenue late Thursday night, resulting in “items of evidentiary value” being seized, according to the sergeant.
The suspect was taken into custody without incident.
“We are working with the Sheriff’s Department to investigate how the suspect accessed the patient’s room and interacted with the family,” hospital CEO Jennifer Cruikshank said Friday. “Our security protocols have been reviewed and reinforced, and we have additional sheriff’s deputies on campus.”
She credited her “vigilant staff” with preventing the abduction.
A possible motive for Miron’s alleged actions was unknown, and background information on the suspect was unavailable.