A pregnant woman shockingly gave birth to a baby boy in the middle of a packed Brooklyn courtroom while waiting to be arraigned on a drug possession charge.
Samantha Randazzo, 33, went into labor surrounded by police officers, prosecutors and court personnel during her arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court on Friday night, May 15, according to a joint statement from the Legal Aid Society and several other public defender organizations.
Randazzo, who was nine months pregnant, suddenly slouched on the bench where she was seated when her water broke just before midnight, her lawyer, Wynton Sharpe, told the New York Times.
“We saw it,” Sharpe told the outlet. “She didn’t have to say anything. We were like, oh OK, this is happening, like, now.”
She was arrested on Thursday evening, May 14, after cops saw two people on a rooftop at a public housing complex in Sheepshead Bay with a controlled substance “in plain view,” according to the NYPD.
During a search, cops allegedly found Randazzo in “possession of a controlled substance” and cuffed her on drug possession and trespassing charges, police said.
“At the time of arrest and when they arrived at the stationhouse, Ms. Randazzo was wearing baggy clothes, did not inform officers she was pregnant, did not indicate any disabilities and declined medical attention,” an NYPD spokesperson told The Post.
Randazzo later complained she was experiencing drug withdrawal symptoms and told officers she was pregnant. She was taken to a hospital at 3:30 a.m. on Friday and later discharged. From there, cops brought her to the courthouse, police added.
Sharpe told The Times that doctors had not realized Randazzo was so close to giving birth when they released her.
His client wound up delivering a “bouncing baby boy” right in the courtroom.
“It was a joyful and sad situation, given the circumstances,” Sharpe said.
The Legal Aid Society and Brooklyn Defender Services — which each had attorneys in the courtroom for other arraignments — claimed Randazzo was shackled and handcuffed during the delivery without “adequate medical care, privacy, or dignity.”
“She deserved care, compassion, safety, and dignity. Instead, she was subjected to trauma and humiliation in full public view,” the joint statement said, adding they are demanding a full-scale investigation of the incident.
But Sharpe denied that Randazzo was handcuffed and shackled while giving birth.
Al Baker, a spokesperson for the Office of Court Administration, also told the Times that her wrists were cuffed behind her back as she waited for her case to be called — and that officers swept in to remove Randazzo’s restraints once her water broke.
“Our team of uniformed UCS officers acted with swift professionalism to ensure the safety and sanctity of life for all individuals in Court on Friday, personifying the everyday virtues of their sworn service,” Baker said in a statement to The Post.
“We are delighted both mother and baby are well,” he added.
Sharpe told the Times he expects Randazzo’s charges to be dismissed.
