UPDATE: Police announced Friday that suspect Daniel Ripper was arrested in this case. An investigation by Police Inspector John Keane of the special victims unit led to the bust at the Kean Hotel at Sixth and Mission streets. Keane called the arrest a team effort by SFPD.
---
In only the first few months of his life, a San Francisco infant was abandoned on a rain-soaked street after birth and born with cocaine in his system -- and now is the victim of a theft.
The latest misfortune happened Wednesday, police said, when a diaper bag belonging to the boy’s foster mother was brazenly stolen from just beyond the security area in the Hall of Justice.
The cream-colored and leopard-pattern bag, which the foster mother accidentally left in the lobby after passing through security, reportedly contained a wallet, credit cards, cash, phone and baby items.
Police released video surveillance footage of the man they believe lifted the bag about 4 p.m. Police investigators subsequently identified him as Daniel Ripper and arrested him at the Kean Hotel at Sixth and Mission streets.
Related...
San Francisco mother Nneka Nash pleads not guilty in abandoned baby case
The mother accused of abandoning her newborn on a Bayview district street after giving birth on a rain-drenched sidewalk appeared in court Tuesday.
Nneka Nash, 39, of San Francisco, pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of willful cruelty to a child and a misdemeanor count of failing to provide care to a child. Read More
The theft follows an unfortunate first few months of life for the so-called Baby Nash.
About 2 a.m. Dec. 12, police said, the infant’s mother, Nneka Nash, gave birth on a sidewalk at Third Street and McKinnon Avenue. She then reportedly passed him along to a man she knew from the neighborhood and walked away.
She was arrested in connection with the incident.
Despite the infant’s early misfortunes, he is lucky to be alive. Two officers were hailed as heroes for rushing the unresponsive newborn to San Francisco General Hospital in their patrol car, administering CPR along the way.
maldax@sfexaminer.com
