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Baby was not thrown from car...
Baby was not thrown from car, officials say
Woman admits abandoning child
By South Florida Sun-Sentinel | February 12, 2005
NORTH LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A story that sounded too heartless to be true turned out to be just that yesterday -- a lie -- after a good Samaritan who said she had rescued a baby thrown from a car admitted she was the baby's mother.
Patricia Pokriots, 38, a bartender who lives in North Lauderdale, told detectives that she concocted the tale to hide her pregnancy and the baby's birth Thursday morning in her mother's bathroom. Officials immediately put Pokriots under psychiatric evaluation and an emergency hearing was called, temporarily transferring custody of the infant boy, nicknamed Johny, to a local child welfare agency. The baby, named after Dr. Johny Tryzmel, the lead doctor caring for him at Broward General Hospital, remained in good condition yesterday.
''This is a case of a distraught woman who gave birth and did not want the child," said Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne. ''Why we are all here is because she decided to lie."
Pokriots has not identified the father.
In Florida, parents are allowed to leave an unwanted newborn at a fire station or hospital with anonymity and without the risk of prosecution, as long as the baby is not more than three days old and shows no sign of abuse. Similar laws exist in 42 states.
Jenne said Pokriots regretted lying and was hospitalized for observation after ''she indicated that she might be a threat to herself."
Pokriots's mother, Janet Pokriots, defended her daughter yesterday, saying that she was a good mother who got scared. She said her daughter, who also has a 10-year-old son, was not prepared to give birth or care for the newborn.
''The story got a little elaborate because she wanted help for her baby," Janet Pokriots said last night outside a home in a working-class neighborhood where she, her daughter, and grandson live together. ''Her main thing was to make sure the baby was taken care of, and he was, and he's in good shape."
The idea that someone would throw a baby from a car sparked nationwide attention. Local officials reported getting hundreds of e-mails and phone calls from people across the country by yesterday morning, all offering to adopt the 8-pound, 2-ounce infant or asking how they could help him financially.
Sheriff's deputies, meanwhile, went into overdrive. Pokriots originally reported seeing a couple fighting near the corner of Southwest 73d Avenue and Southwest Eighth Court in North Lauderdale, then seeing them throw the child, wrapped in a plastic bag, from the window of their white car.
Investigators believed Pokriots's story, Jenne said, because another witness, a 10-year-old boy, also said he saw the couple fighting. But he did not see the baby being thrown.
Detectives say Pokriots just happened to see the couple while she was on her way to a local fire station, where she planned to abandon the baby. After seeing the couple, they said, she made a wrong turn and ended up at a sheriff's substation.
''She decided to build a story around it," Jenne said. ''The baby was never thrown from a car. The baby did come in a plastic bag, [but] there weren't any bruises. There weren't any scratches."
Jenne said the true story came out yesterday morning when Pokriots was interviewed for the third time. ''They kept asking questions and she was a little bit reluctant. Her story began to unfold," Jenne said, adding that no charges have been filed against her. ''The only charge I can think of would be making a false police report."
Gina Ciolino, spokeswoman for ChildNet, a local child welfare agency, said her agency has been flooded by calls from people wanting to adopt Johny, but he is not yet available for adoption and may never be. ChildNet took both the baby and Pokriots's other son into custody yesterday. Pokriots told authorities she does not wish to raise Johny.
''The next step is to terminate mom's parental rights and to find out who the dad is," Ciolino said. ''We're looking for a foster home for him. An investigation will commence to see if [the grandmother] is interested."
Janet Pokriots said she and other family members have not had time to discuss whether to take in the baby. She said she hoped to bring home her other grandson last night following an inspection of her home.
''He's a good little boy and well taken care of," Janet Pokriots said. ''[My daughter] is a very caring person. She's raised him all by herself."
The ChildNet spokeswoman said that returning the older boy had not been discussed as a possibility as of late yesterday.
Scott Hargreaves, father of Pokriots's eldest son, was visibly shocked by the news of Pokriots's pregnancy and the lie she had spun. He said she has no history of mental illness and, though the two of them haven't been together for two years, he sees her each weekend when he visits his son. He said he considers her a ''good mother" and when he saw her two weeks ago, she showed no signs of being pregnant, although she wore baggy clothes.
''She was fine," Hargreaves said. ''Maybe she just freaked out. They just need to give her counseling."
He said custody of his son should be returned to Pokriots. He did not say why custody of the boy was not awarded to him. Court records show he was charged in 2003 with child abuse and domestic battery, although both charges were later dropped. He has also faced three drug charges since 1983; one was dropped and two ended with probation.
Hargreaves added that it would be impossible for him to be the father of baby Johny.
Pokriots, who works as a bartender and caterer at the Elks Lodge in Pompano Beach, was charged with aggravated battery in 2002 but acquitted by a jury.
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