Baby not hurled from car, admits mother

THE mother of a newborn baby said to have been hurled from a car window was in fact the "good Samaritan" who claimed to have found the infant at the roadside, police said last night.

Patricia Pokriots, 38, concocted a story, telling police she had witnessed the tot being thrown from a moving vehicle because she did not want the child.

The twist emerged after Florida police interviewed Pokriots.

County Sheriff Ken Jenne said she had only found out she was pregnant two months ago, had panicked and did not want to keep the baby.

The only charge which could be filed against her was making a false police report, he said.

The story dominated US headlines yesterday, as detectives appealed for the parents of the newborn to come forward.

Pokriots told police she had discovered the infant on a grass verge, a small plastic bag over his head and his umbilical cord still attached.

The 8lb 2oz tot was immediately taken to hospital where doctors described him as a "miracle baby" for sustaining no broken bones, scratches or injuries.

His mother originally told police she had seen a couple arguing in a car before the infant was tossed out on to the busy street and the vehicle sped off. She said she put the baby in a towel and brought it to the police.

But Pokriots admitted she had given birth in her parents' bathroom yesterday.

She intended to give the baby up at a fire station but en route she spied a young couple arguing in a car and opted to build a story around that.

"The baby was never thrown out of a moving car," Mr Jenne said. "This is a case of a disturbed woman who did not want to keep her child and made up an incredible story."

Pokriots was detained at a hospital for psychiatric and physical observation.