Girl, 16, Files Claim Over Treatment in Baby Dumping Case

A Pasadena lawyer says he has filed a claim against the city of Monrovia on behalf of a 16-year-old girl who was arrested and examined during the search for the mother of an abandoned baby.

The claim alleges false arrest, false imprisonment and violation of the girl’s civil rights and asks for $1 million in damages, attorney Joe Hopkins said.

Baby Andrew, as the infant was named, was found in a trash bin behind an apartment complex in the 700 block of West Foothill Boulevard at 10:50 p.m. Jan. 19.

The 16-year-old, who lives in the Bay Area city of San Leandro, was spending that night with two older sisters who live in a Monrovia apartment.

Monrovia police using bloodhounds traced the mother’s scent to within 15 feet of the sisters’ apartment door, said Capt. Roger Johnson.

They interviewed the girl, who denied being the baby’s mother. After searching the apartment and taking DNA samples, they made a probable-cause arrest, Johnson said.

The girl was taken to Methodist Hospital in Arcadia about 4:30 a.m for a physical exam, which indicated she could not have been the mother. She was then taken to the station and released by 8:30 a.m., Johnson said.

Hopkins said that according to the police reports, the evidence that indicated probable cause included a printed garbage can liner in the apartment similar to the plastic bag that Baby Andrew had been wrapped in.

Johnson would not comment on the nature of the evidence, but said it was sufficient for an arrest.

“Our detective consulted with the district attorney’s command post to get a second opinion to support making a probable-cause arrest,” Johnson said.

But Hopkins said his client was unfairly singled out.

“I know why they went to that place: because they felt it had to be a black parent,” he said.

Hopkins also objected to the invasive physical test.

“How many cops want their virgin 16-year-old daughters arrested?” Hopkins said. “They’d be screaming bloody murder.”

Johnson said that during the course of the investigation, the detectives had contacted the hospital, which said the woman who had given birth to the child could be in medical danger. As a result, he said, police would not have been able to book a suspect into jail without verifying her health.

“When you have a young girl who may have recently delivered a child ... it would be irresponsible for the police to take her into custody without medical clearance,” Johnson said.

On Jan. 25, police arrested the girl now suspected of being the baby’s mother.

She lives near the site where the baby was found. She also was taken to the hospital before being booked, Johnson said.

The city has 45 days to respond to the claim. If the claim is denied, Hopkins said, he plans to file a civil lawsuit on the girl’s behalf.

Times staff writer Anica Butler contributed to this report.