Pregnant Woman Arrested in Alleged Fraud Scheme : Canoga Park: Two couples who answered an adoption ad turned in Janet Wood. Police say others may also have paid her for the child.

A 28-year-old Canoga Park woman who allegedly advertised her unborn baby for adoption in a local shopping guide was arrested Sunday on suspicion of grand theft after two couples complained to police that they had been duped, authorities said.

Janet Wood, who is 7 1/2 months pregnant, was arrested about 4 p.m. at the Canoga Park motel where she had been living for at least a month, Police Sgt. Dan Mastro said. The arrest came after two angry sets of prospective parents--including one couple who had apparently paid about $2,500 for the child--told police they had been deceived by Wood.

Wood allegedly placed an ad last month in the Recycler, a weekly publication of classified advertising, to alert shoppers that her unborn baby was available for adoption, Mastro said.

She ran the alleged scam from her motel room in the 7400 block of Winnetka Avenue, Mastro said. The motel manager told police that Wood, who apparently uses several aliases, received dozens of telephone calls a day.

The two couples who complained to authorities met each other at the motel Sunday. One of the couples went to see Wood after hearing she was planning to flee, Mastro said. The would-be adoptive parents, who live in Simi Valley and Northridge, apparently compared notes and then immediately went to the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Station to file a complaint.

The Simi Valley couple told police that they had already handed over $2,500 for Wood’s baby, Mastro said. The Northridge pair had paid $1,000. Mastro said detectives were investigating the possibility that at least four other couples had also given Wood money for the child.

Wood, who has denied the accusations, told police that her expected child is her eighth.

Four others had apparently been adopted--although she did not specify through what means--and two were in foster homes, Mastro said. He had no information concerning the seventh child’s whereabouts.

Detectives who arrested Wood also found she had an outstanding felony warrant for her arrest on suspicion of forgery, Mastro said.

Wood, who Mastro said is an admitted cocaine user, was taken to Van Nuys Jail, where she remained without bail.