A Florida woman learned the hard way that even when bystanders show restraint and the first encounter with police doesn’t immediately end in handcuffs, karma has a way of catching up — especially after something as shocking as tossing a stranger’s baby into a community pool “for fun.”
The woman later pleaded no contest to resisting arrest and felony child abuse after the bizarre incident.
Police released bodycam footage of the chaotic arrest of the older, bathing-suit-clad white woman, identified only by her first name, Eileen. A Feb. 24 episode of the Midwest Safety YouTube channel featuring the footage quickly went viral.
Fortunately, the baby was unharmed, and the parents initially decided not to press charges. However, Eileen ended up in handcuffs on May 2, 2024, anyway because of her relentless taunting and arguing with deputies that day in Flagler County, Florida.
During police questioning captured on video, Eileen initially appeared oblivious of any wrongdoing, asking the officers, “Is there a law against that?” and then claiming she didn’t throw the baby “with bad intentions.”
But the situation escalated as Eileen became increasingly defiant and repeatedly refused to provide officers her full name. She asked officers if they had “permission” to talk to her and even blurted out “F*ck you people!” during an argument with a Sheriff’s Office sergeant.
Fed up, the sergeant handcuffed her and put her under arrest for resisting without violence. “They didn’t even want to press charges. But we have to identify you, so you’re at least going to jail for resisting. You want to play games,” he said, “this is what you get.”
But apparently, Eileen had more “games” in mind: she refused to get into the police vehicle, flung a few more F-bombs, and once in the car, cried on a spare tire before brazenly telling an officer, “Drop me at my house. I live right down the street.”
A Black community resident was at the pool with his two teenagers that day and spoke to police on camera, providing some details that led up to the baby-throwing incident.
“I opened the gate and the mother’s there holding a baby, and she’s in tears…bawling,” he recalled. The young child, who didn’t know how to swim yet, was sitting on the pool’s step in the shallow end when Eileen grabbed him and tossed him into the water, according to the mother’s account.
The Black resident told police, “She just picked him up and threw him with no regard.”
“She’s like, ‘I don’t see what the problem is,” he recounted. “You don’t see what the problem is? Picking up a complete stranger’s baby and throwing him into the pool?” She’s like, ‘well, he ain’t complaining.’”
One of his own sons had a run-in with the woman when she grabbed his swim goggles and threw them into the deep end of the pool.
The father told police, “I asked the lady, ‘Will you go get those goggles? You know, my son can’t swim.’” He said she retrieved the goggles but then threw them across an adjacent field, telling the dad, “You go them.”
The police explained that grabbing the goggles might be covered by the statute for sudden robbery, but the dad declined to press charges. “Just get her some help and get her away from my kids.”
Midwest Safety reports Eileen received two years’ probation without a formal conviction.
