A woman is accused of removing her infant from an intensive care unit at a Palm Beach County hospital Thursday night and then attacking workers trying to stop her from leaving with the baby.
According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Kendra Greene, 38, walked into the neonatal intensive care unit at HCA Florida Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee around 10:30 p.m. and removed her 5-day-old baby from a ventilator.
When she was walking toward the exit, hospital workers tried to stop her from leaving, said Teri Barbera, a sheriff’s office spokesperson. Greene pulled out a knife and injured three people with the weapon, Barbera said.
“All three staff members received treatment for non-life-threatening injuries and were discharged the same evening,” Barbera said.
Greene left the hospital and dropped the baby off at a family member’s home and “fled before deputies arrived,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies found her “a short time later” and arrested her. As of Friday, Greene was in Palm Beach County jail on charges of cruelty toward a child, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, battery and resisting officers without violence.
Reports detailing Greene’s motive for wanting to remove the child were not immediately available.