dan
02-14-2005, 08:21 AM
Source: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10881583.htm?1c
Baby-tossing story is a hoax; witness is really the mom
A North Lauderdale 'good Samaritan' made up the story about a couple tossing a baby out of a car, Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne said. The baby is hers, and her story was called a cover to give up the child.
BY JEANNETTE RIVERA-LYLES, KEVIN DEUTSCH AND SARA OLKON
jrivera@herald.com
On Thursday, the Broward Sheriff's Office was calling Patricia Ann Pokriots a good Samaritan, a ''concerned citizen'' who rescued a newborn baby tossed out of a car window in North Lauderdale.
But on Friday, Sheriff Ken Jenne called her a ''disturbed woman'' who made up the whole story as a cover for giving up her own child -- something she could have done legally.
And the sensational story was topping the news on national television networks. E-mails were pouring in from all over the country from people wanting to adopt the blonde 8-pound, 2-ounce baby.
Pokriots told BSO detectives she gave birth to the baby in a bathroom in the pink and white North Lauderdale house she shares with her mother and 10-year-old son. She told detectives that after she delivered, she swaddled the baby in a bag and a towel, placed him on the bathroom floor, then took a shower to wash away the signs of labor.
''This is the case of a disturbed woman who gave birth and did not want to keep the baby,'' Jenne said.
The baby is in serious condition at Broward General Medical Center, although doctors said this is only a precaution. He appeared to be healthy.
NICKNAME
Nurses have nicknamed the child Johny after a pediatrician caring for him, Dr. Johny Tryzmel.
Pokriots, 38, was committed to a psychiatric institution under the Baker Act, a state law that allows for a person to be held against their will for up to 72 hours if a judge authorizes it.
Because she took the baby to a police station, Pokriots is protected under the Florida Safe Haven law, which allows a woman to leave a newborn, within three days of birth, at a police or fire station.
Pokriots has not been charged. Jenne said the only crime he could think of is falsifying a police report.
Detectives said she would not identify the father.
Pokriots told them she found out about the pregnancy barely two months ago and did not tell anyone.
''For some reason she was extremely concerned about anyone in her family finding out,'' Detective Richard Vaccaro said.
Pokriots initially told investigators she saw a man and woman quarreling in a car in front of her, traveling west on a North Lauderdale street. She said the car slowed, the door opened, and a package was thrown onto the grass shoulder.
But Pokriots' tale began to crumble. At first, Jenne said, investigators had suspicions about her account of events. But it was hard to separate truth from fantasy because several independent witnesses confirmed they had seen a white car moving erratically and two people inside quarreling at the same location Pokriots said she saw them tossing out the baby.
She originally had intended to drive to a fire station and give up her son and was driving in that direction when she decided to insert herself into the drama observed inside the car in front of her.
When confronted Friday morning with inconsistencies, Pokriots broke down, Jenne said. ''She said she was the birth mother,'' he added.
Johny's future is uncertain. On Friday, Broward Judge Hope Tieman-Bristol placed him and his 10-year-old brother under state custody.
WANTED CUSTODY
The 10-year-old's father, Scott Hargreaves, attempted to get custody of him but the judge denied it for now.
Tieman-Bristol based that decision on information from the Department of Children & Families that Hargreaves and his ex-wife, Kathy, were arrested on domestic battery charges as well as exposing the child to violence in December 2003.
Kathy and Scott Hargreaves both punched Patricia Pokriots in the mouth in front of the minor, according to a police report. The document noted that ``all parties have resided together and have a long history of physically hitting one another.''
Hargreaves has an extensive criminal record that includes arrests on charges of heroin and cocaine trafficking, distributing marijuana, and battery.
Pokriots was charged with aggravated battery in 2002 after a fight in a Pompano Beach bar with Kathy Hargreaves, in which she reportedly used a pool stick to strike the other woman.
''She was a good mother,'' said Scott Hargreaves. ``She took [our son] to school every day. They did things together. . . . This whole situation, it hasn't even sunk in yet.''
Pokriots' neighbors in North Lauderdale were shocked to learn the news.
''She seemed to be a jolly woman,'' said Lyle Bhim, 55, who used to live across the street from Pokriots until two weeks ago. ``She would smile, wave hello and goodbye. I would have never thought this could have happened.''
Pokriots walked her Jack Russell Terrier, Biscuit, along the street each day, neighbors said. She held a yard sale two weeks ago outside her home.
On Friday, Pokriot's life was far from routine.
''If she had taken baby Johny to a fire station we would not be here now,'' Jenne said. ``Her trouble is that she decided to lie.''
The greatest thing about this is that I was watching the morning news and they had an interview with the cop, and he kept saying how upset the good samaritan was, but how he was consoling her by saying that the parents were bad people but that she was proof there were still good people in the world.
Baby-tossing story is a hoax; witness is really the mom
A North Lauderdale 'good Samaritan' made up the story about a couple tossing a baby out of a car, Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne said. The baby is hers, and her story was called a cover to give up the child.
BY JEANNETTE RIVERA-LYLES, KEVIN DEUTSCH AND SARA OLKON
jrivera@herald.com
On Thursday, the Broward Sheriff's Office was calling Patricia Ann Pokriots a good Samaritan, a ''concerned citizen'' who rescued a newborn baby tossed out of a car window in North Lauderdale.
But on Friday, Sheriff Ken Jenne called her a ''disturbed woman'' who made up the whole story as a cover for giving up her own child -- something she could have done legally.
And the sensational story was topping the news on national television networks. E-mails were pouring in from all over the country from people wanting to adopt the blonde 8-pound, 2-ounce baby.
Pokriots told BSO detectives she gave birth to the baby in a bathroom in the pink and white North Lauderdale house she shares with her mother and 10-year-old son. She told detectives that after she delivered, she swaddled the baby in a bag and a towel, placed him on the bathroom floor, then took a shower to wash away the signs of labor.
''This is the case of a disturbed woman who gave birth and did not want to keep the baby,'' Jenne said.
The baby is in serious condition at Broward General Medical Center, although doctors said this is only a precaution. He appeared to be healthy.
NICKNAME
Nurses have nicknamed the child Johny after a pediatrician caring for him, Dr. Johny Tryzmel.
Pokriots, 38, was committed to a psychiatric institution under the Baker Act, a state law that allows for a person to be held against their will for up to 72 hours if a judge authorizes it.
Because she took the baby to a police station, Pokriots is protected under the Florida Safe Haven law, which allows a woman to leave a newborn, within three days of birth, at a police or fire station.
Pokriots has not been charged. Jenne said the only crime he could think of is falsifying a police report.
Detectives said she would not identify the father.
Pokriots told them she found out about the pregnancy barely two months ago and did not tell anyone.
''For some reason she was extremely concerned about anyone in her family finding out,'' Detective Richard Vaccaro said.
Pokriots initially told investigators she saw a man and woman quarreling in a car in front of her, traveling west on a North Lauderdale street. She said the car slowed, the door opened, and a package was thrown onto the grass shoulder.
But Pokriots' tale began to crumble. At first, Jenne said, investigators had suspicions about her account of events. But it was hard to separate truth from fantasy because several independent witnesses confirmed they had seen a white car moving erratically and two people inside quarreling at the same location Pokriots said she saw them tossing out the baby.
She originally had intended to drive to a fire station and give up her son and was driving in that direction when she decided to insert herself into the drama observed inside the car in front of her.
When confronted Friday morning with inconsistencies, Pokriots broke down, Jenne said. ''She said she was the birth mother,'' he added.
Johny's future is uncertain. On Friday, Broward Judge Hope Tieman-Bristol placed him and his 10-year-old brother under state custody.
WANTED CUSTODY
The 10-year-old's father, Scott Hargreaves, attempted to get custody of him but the judge denied it for now.
Tieman-Bristol based that decision on information from the Department of Children & Families that Hargreaves and his ex-wife, Kathy, were arrested on domestic battery charges as well as exposing the child to violence in December 2003.
Kathy and Scott Hargreaves both punched Patricia Pokriots in the mouth in front of the minor, according to a police report. The document noted that ``all parties have resided together and have a long history of physically hitting one another.''
Hargreaves has an extensive criminal record that includes arrests on charges of heroin and cocaine trafficking, distributing marijuana, and battery.
Pokriots was charged with aggravated battery in 2002 after a fight in a Pompano Beach bar with Kathy Hargreaves, in which she reportedly used a pool stick to strike the other woman.
''She was a good mother,'' said Scott Hargreaves. ``She took [our son] to school every day. They did things together. . . . This whole situation, it hasn't even sunk in yet.''
Pokriots' neighbors in North Lauderdale were shocked to learn the news.
''She seemed to be a jolly woman,'' said Lyle Bhim, 55, who used to live across the street from Pokriots until two weeks ago. ``She would smile, wave hello and goodbye. I would have never thought this could have happened.''
Pokriots walked her Jack Russell Terrier, Biscuit, along the street each day, neighbors said. She held a yard sale two weeks ago outside her home.
On Friday, Pokriot's life was far from routine.
''If she had taken baby Johny to a fire station we would not be here now,'' Jenne said. ``Her trouble is that she decided to lie.''
The greatest thing about this is that I was watching the morning news and they had an interview with the cop, and he kept saying how upset the good samaritan was, but how he was consoling her by saying that the parents were bad people but that she was proof there were still good people in the world.