Attorney: Heroin Addiction Drove Central Islip Mom To Rob Bank With Baby In Tow
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A mother is accused of taking her baby to a bank while she robbed it.
The baby is safe, but now that mother is facing a slew of charges.
A family matter became a criminal matter when police say a young mother committed two crimes in a matter of minutes -- bank robbery and endangering the welfare of a child.
Halloween decor signals that the Kent Road home is ready for a fright, but the celebration is on hold after 20-year-old Madison Munoz -- who lives there with her parents and baby -- allegedly gave people a real life scare.
Suffolk Police said she left her 10-month-old baby boy unattended in her car while she walked into a bank on Montauk Highway, and handed the teller a note demanding cash.
"She was stressed out, in need of heroin," attorney Philip Murphy said.
He called it a sad case of a heroin addicted young mother who tried, but failed to get clean. Munoz has been to rehab, but relapsed.
"She seems like a very decent soul, but she needs help like a lot of young people in this country do -- addicted to fentanyl and heroin -- she was desperate, she left the child in the car, she admits to what she did," he said.
Her baby boy will now be the subject of a custody hearing. Munoz has been ordered to stay away, the boy's father was in court volunteering to take responsibility.
It's a family affair in more ways than one. Madison Munoz's older brother Taylor was arrested last year, after admitting to robbing a bank in Shirley. Neighbors said they didn't see her following in his footsteps like this.
"It doesn't seem right. I don't know what made her do what she did. I thought the kid was on the right track," one neighbor said.
"We were shocked quite honestly. I never seen anything to indicate she would do something so crazy," another neighbor said, "She was excited about the baby."
"All she wants to do is go back to her normal life with her son," Murphy added.
A witness at the bank gave police a description of the car and that's how they found her.
Her lawyer said the arrest may be the best thing that happens to Munoz and the child if she can get the treatment she needs.
Suffolk Police reported that out of 22 bank robberies so far this year, 22 of them have been solved.