Mother Who Left Baby On Subway Platform Arrested, To Be Charged

A mother who pushed her baby in a stroller onto a New York City subway station platform and boarded a departing train was charged with felony abandonment on Tuesday, officials said, according to The Associated Press.

The North Carolina woman, Frankea Dabbs, 20, was arrested and charged a day after being accused of leaving her 10-month-old daughter on the crowded Columbus Circle subway station platform before getting on a departing train, police said, the AP reported.

City officials were looking after the baby, who appeared to be unharmed, according to the AP.

"She was on the train," said New York City Police Department spokesman Christopher Pisano, the AP reported. "She exited and left the stroller on the platform and then got back onto the train."

Dabbs is expected to be arraigned later on Tuesday, when the Manhattan District Attorney's Office will likely file charges, according to the AP.

Dabbs was taken into custody just after midnight local time near 72nd Street and Broadway in Manhattan, Pisano said, the AP reported. Dabbs was apprehended at a Starbucks, New York-based WCBS Radio reported.

A witness who saw the baby girl left behind, watched over her and called the police, Pisano said, according to the AP. Another person notified the police after recognizing the suspect on the street from a surveillance video released by police.

The baby, who is about 10 months old, was examined at Roosevelt Hospital, and doctors found no apparent signs of trauma, police said, the AP reported. She was placed in the care of the city's Administration for Children's Services.

Dabbs told police she was homeless and overwhelmed by having to care for the baby after the father's death recently, according to news outlet WRAL-TV in North Carolina, the AP reported.

Records show that Dabbs has a pending assault case and numerous prostitution-related arrests, all misdemeanors, in Raleigh, Charlotte and other locations in North Carolina, according to the AP. She had skipped a court date for one of the cases on July 1, according to the Wake County District Attorney's office.