Danish Mom Who Left Baby Outside Cafe Wins Damages

A federal jury Tuesday rejected most of the claims of a Danish mother arrested for leaving her baby in a stroller outside a restaurant while she and the child’s father drank margaritas, awarding her $66,400 instead of the $20 million she sought from the city.

Anette Sorensen, 32, had argued that she was falsely arrested and that leaving babies outside is common in Denmark.

The jury found only that she should not have been strip searched and that the city commonly failed to advise arrested foreigners of their right to notify their consulates.

Sorensen was arrested on May 10, 1997, outside an East Village restaurant along with the baby’s father, Exavier Wardlaw. Criminal charges that they had endangered their child were dropped.