TARZANA : Woman Pleads Not Guilty to Kidnaping

A 37-year-old Tarzana woman has pleaded not guilty to charges that she posed as a nurse and kidnaped a 2-day-old baby from a Tarzana hospital last month.

Pamela Luna, who is in custody, entered her plea Thursday in Van Nuys Municipal Court. A preliminary hearing has been set for Jan. 26. She faces a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison.

Luna was arrested Dec. 23 at her home after a hospital employee recalled seeing Luna, a former patient at Tarzana Regional Medical Center, walking around the facility dressed in a hospital gown earlier that day.

When police arrived at Luna’s apartment, they found an infant asleep in a crib. Initially, Luna claimed that the baby was hers, but later admitted to taking the child, police said. The infant was not harmed.

Police said that Luna, who has two daughters, ages 6 and 8, from a previous marriage, told them that she took the baby because she could no longer have children, and wanted another child before she died of cancer.