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Updated: 5:48 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24, 2012 | Posted: 8:33 a.m. Friday, Aug. 24, 2012
PITTSBURGH —
A 19-year-old East McKeesport woman is facing several charges after police said she kidnapped a baby from Magee-Womens Hospital on Thursday.
Investigators said Breona Moore is charged with concealment of the whereabouts of a child, criminal trespass, kidnapping a minor, falsely impersonating persons privately employed, interference with the custody of a child and recklessly endangering another person.
According to the criminal complaint, Moore was seen loitering around the victim's hospital room by employees of Magee around 1:41 p.m.
An employee told officers that she asked Moore, who was dressed in hospital scrubs, if she was going on or off duty. The employee said she asked Moore the question because she did not have a Magee-Womens Hospital identification on her.
Police said Moore told that employee that she was just getting off duty.
The criminal complaint went on to say that Moore then was seen by another employee standing in the same area. Officers said Moore told that employee that she was the sister of Rhonda King, the boy's mother, and that she was waiting to drive her home.
Police said when the discharge nurse entered King's room, Moore followed.
King told police that she thought Moore was a nurse's aide, employed by Magee. Investigators said Moore watched as the discharge nurse cut the baby's and King's security bracelets off. When the discharge nurse left the room, police said Moore told King that the child needed one more physical test and that she would return baby Bryce Coleman right away.
The criminal complaint said, "Moore then went to a secluded area in the hospital and placed the baby in a reddish-colored cloth zippered handbag. Moore then left the hospital by way of the main lobby and out the front door."
Detectives said they learned that Moore was seen walking down Haklet Street. They later discovered that she fled the area when she began hearing police sirens.
Police said she boarded a Port Authority bus and got off at a stop in downtown Pittsburgh. During the investigation, police learned that Moore and the baby were in a building on 4th Street.
When police arrived to the building, they said they found Moore hiding in a closet with the child. Police quickly arrested Moore and took her into custody.
Investigators said Moore admitted to planning and following through with the kidnapping. She told police that she had convinced people that she was pregnant and told them she was scheduled for a C-section on Aug. 20.
Channel 11’s Jodine Costanzo talked with Moore’s ex-boyfriend, Saevon Josey, who said he was expecting to be a father.
According to Josey, he and Moore had broken up but remained friends and planned on raising the child. He said they even shopped for baby clothes.
Josey said Moore told him she had the baby on Monday, but he wasn’t allowed to visit her at Magee.
Moore told Josey to meet her at the Investment Building Thursday, Josey said. He said he held the baby that he thought was his son.
Later on Thursday Josey said he found out that Moore was accused of stealing the baby and she was never pregnant.
“I knew she was crazy, but I didn’t know she was capable of that. She was always a liar, but who steals babies?” Josey said.
Josey told Costanzo that he felt like Moore was unstable, but never thought she was capable of something like this.
A neighbor said she had no reason to believe that Moore wasn't pregnant and even purchased a gift for her.
"She didn't look like she was up to something. She just seemed like a young girl that was by herself that could use somebody's help," Moore's neighbor said.
During a hearing Friday morning, a judge set Moore's bond at $250,000. The judge also ordered she have a mental evaluation. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 31.
Channel 11 News has learned that several security measures are in place to prevent someone from stealing a baby from the hospital.
Officials said every newborn at Magee-Womens Hospital is immediately outfitted with bracelets on the wrist and ankle. There is a chip in each bracelet that will lockdown the doors if a child gets too close to an exit.
Employees outfitted with a pink stork on their identification badges are also the only people in the hospital permitted to hold a child. Parents are told to not let anyone hold their infant unless they have that pink stork on their IDs.
UPMC officials said in a statement that they’re cooperating with police and “will be reviewing this event to see what improvements could be made in our security procedures.”
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