A man who told investigators that he found an abandoned baby outside a DeBary Food Mart on Monday, has been arrested on charges of providing false information to law enforcement and resisting an officer without violence, Volusia County deputies said.
Ralph Garlick, 53, initially told investigators that he found the baby girl after hearing its cries, unclothed and wrapped in newspaper at the front door of the DeBary Food Mart on South Charles R. Beall Boulevard. He said he didn’t know to whom the baby belonged, but picked her up and wrapped her in a towel before flagging down a newspaper deliveryman who called 911, around 2:30 a.m. on Monday.
Deputies confirmed that the baby was a newborn, with the umbilical cord still attached. The cord appeared to have been tied off with a shoe string.
At it turned out, the baby belongs to Garlick’s girlfriend, although he is not the father, investigators said. The woman gave birth to the baby early Monday morning at an apartment complex in Orange City.
Garlick said that he was trying to bring the baby to a safe location because his girlfriend didn’t want to keep it. He initially identified himself as Charles Garlick, using the name of his dead brother, investigators said.
Garlick was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach, and booked on the two misdemeanor charges with bonds totaling $5,000.
The baby’s mother has been taken to Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford, where she is being interviewed by investigators. Once medically cleared, the baby will be turned over to the Florida Department of Children and Families, deputies said.
