A woman in Merced, Calif., has been arrested on trespassing charges after she and an unnamed man allegedly twice tried sneaking into a hospital maternity ward using dolls as decoys.
The woman, identified by ABC30.com as Tonya Whitney Boehs, first tried getting into Merced's Mercy Medical Center's obstetrics unit last Saturday with her male companion. They doted on the fake babies by changing them and posing for photos, the station reported.
The suspects were turned away by a suspicious guard who snapped photos of them carrying the lifelike dolls, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Merced police were investigating if the pair sought to abduct a newborn, according to the LA Times.
The couple, clutching a diaper bag and carryall, apparently tried again on Monday. Boehs allegedly wore hospital scrubs, according to ABC30.com, but she aroused suspicion because the outfit didn't match the hospital's uniform.
They also got tripped up by claiming to have a nonexistent appointment with an educator and presenting an outdated business card from the center's director.
Boehs and her unknown accomplice never made it into the baby wing.
Bob McLaughlin, spokesman for Mercy Medical Center, told the Merced Sun Star it's the first time he’s heard of someone trying to gain access to a maternity ward with a doll. "We do not why they were in the hospital," he said.
Fearing a potential baby abduction, hospital staff alerted police and other area hospitals about the couple and sent photographs of them with their bogus babies.
"They acted like they were real," McLaughlin told ABC News. "They hold them and hug them and change their diapers. It's very odd." However, he's also pointed out: "It's not illegal to have a fake baby."
