Parents File Lawsuit After Their Newborn Baby Was Removed From Hospital By Miccosukee Police
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Parents of a baby girl that was taken from then not only after her birth are now filing a lawsuit.
The baby was taken one year ago by Miami-Dade Police officers who were working with Miccosukee Police on behalf of the child's maternal grandmother.
Ingrid Johnson is nearly a year old and in center of a big legal battle.
Shortly after birth she was taken from her mother while she was in Baptist Hospital.
Rebecca Sanders, Ingrid's mother, is part Miccosukee. She was told a tribal order allowed Miccosukee Police to take her and bring her to the child's grandmother on the reservation.
Sanders said it happened when someone left with her daughter to weigh her.
"After they took her out the room to weigh her, the police officer then told me that baby Ingrid is no longer mine, I don't have custody of her," Sanders said.
The parents are already suing Baptist Hospital and members of the Miccosukee Tribe, and now they're asking a judge to allow more people into the suit, including Miami-Dade County.
Attorney Max Steiner said Miami-Dade Police escorted tribal officers to get the child and did not do their job.
"They failed to really read the order because it was bogus on its face, so had they performed the slightest bit of fact checking or followed the rules in the slightest way, none of this would have happened," said Steiner.
The parents also say officers did not properly investigate.
"At one point I even had an officer laugh in my face and I'll never forget the words that came out of his mouth, 'sir, take a big deep breath and repeat all of that in your head to yourself so you can hear how ridiculous that sounds,'" said Justin Johnson, Ingrid's father.
The couple is asking to add a doctor from Baptist to the suit as well.
The hospital released a statement saying, "We see no legal merit to this case. We have pending motions to dismiss, which we believe will resolve this case favorably for the hospital and its employees."
