Unidentified Man Sneaks Into Hospital NICU And Feeds Baby That Isn't His

Iowa police are investigating an incident where an unidentified man walked into a Des Moines hospital and fed a baby that was not his.

The episode took place at MercyOne on Dec. 28, 2021, after a man snuck past a nurse and slipped through a secured area of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The man then spoke to the staff and claimed he was the infant’s father, according to the Des Moines Police Department. The complete stranger went on to bottle-feed a baby in the NICU before leaving. No harm was reported to the baby, according to NBC affiliate WHO 13 News.

Des Moines Police have retrieved surveillance footage to identify the mystery man.

“The first question that comes to our minds is 'why?'" Sergeant Paul Parizek with the Des Moines Police Department told KCCI.

“The family is obviously very frightened. This is something that would startle any parent," Parizek added.

Parizek also said the incident is something fairly new to them. "When we think of child-stealing or predators this is not how they behave, or at least how we're familiar with them behaving. In this case, there was no harm done to the child and on the surface, no intent to commit any other crime beyond what he did to get in there."

Thomas Slater, a lawyer in West Des Moines, said the man should never have been allowed inside in the first place. Slater, who deals with medical malpractice, also said all the babies inside the NICU were at risk because of the unknown suspect.

"I would think there would be some precaution in place to reasonably ensure the person wanting access to the NICU is authorized," said Slater.

The hospital called the incident “extremely troubling” and has since changed its policies to prevent such instances.

"MercyOne takes the safety and security of our patients and families very seriously. The incident that took place last month is extremely troubling. We are actively cooperating with the Des Moines Police Department on this ongoing investigation and have conducted an internal investigation into the matter, which prompted several changes to our policies and protocols to expand our security and prevent this from occurring in the future,” the hospital said in a statement, according to KCCI.

The police continue investigations to find the suspect.

"We don't know what his true intent was, or what he was planning on doing further down the road," Parizek told the outlet. "We need to get him identified so we can at least hear his side of the story and have our investigators better understand what was going on."