UPDATE: Woman Might Not Be Charged After Leaving Baby at Walgreens

Updated 11:39 a.m., Friday, Dec. 9

A woman who left a baby in a shopping cart at a Darien Walgreens on Thursday morning might not face charges after all, Darien Police Chief Ernest Brown said Friday.

The is still determining whether medical or medication issues played a role in the incident, he said.

More information will be released once a final decision is made about the charges.

Updated 3:45 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 8

The Darien Police Department and the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office are still working on filing charges against a woman accused of abandoning a baby boy at a Darien Walgreens Thursday morning, Chief Ernest Brown said.

He said he expects charges will be filed sometime Thursday.

Until then, the department is unable to release any information about the woman, who Walgreens employees said left the baby in a shopping cart inside the store before driving away in a white Jeep.

"It's a tragedy, but fortunately the baby is safe and apparently healthy," Brown said.

11:45 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 8

A baby boy was left in a shopping cart at the Walgreens in Brookhaven Plaza around 8:15 a.m. Thursday, said.

Clerks told police a woman brought the baby into the store in a portable car seat, which she placed in a shopping cart, Deputy Chief John Cooper said. She walked around the store and made small talk with the clerks before leaving without the boy, who is between 12 and 14 months old.

Initially the clerks thought she was going outside to get something such as a diaper bag, but then she got into a white Jeep and drove away, Cooper said.

A short time later, the woman called the police on her cell phone and told them the baby had been kidnapped from a Buona Beef in Woodridge, Cooper said.

There is not a Buona Beef at the location she described, however, so Cooper said Darien officers went to the one on Cass Avenue in Darien.

They found the woman sitting in her Jeep in the parking lot at the Darien Buona Beef, Cooper said.

"Thankfully we had a description of the vehicle," he said.

She is being questioned at the police department, Cooper said. No other information is being released until a suspect is charged.

paramedics said the baby appears to be in good health and was dressed properly for the weather. 

The paramedics took the baby to in Downers Grove for further examination.

"With the weather we've been having, at least the baby wasn't left in the cold," Cooper said. "It could have been tragic."

Cooper said that people who wish to give up babies who are younger than 30 days old can do so legally and anonymously at Safe Haven locations such as police stations or fire departments.

"You can bring it in the door and say you're giving up the baby, no questions asked," he said. 

If a person abandons a baby at a location not designated as a Safe Haven, Cooper said charges may be filed.