Two Florida women were arrested and charged with assault and child abuse after several people were seen throwing a baby “as if it were a toy” at a bar in Daytona Beach, Volusia County.
The events occurred around 1:00 a.m. last Thursday at the Coyote Ugly Saloon on Seabreeze Boulevard.
Brianna Lafoe19 years old, and Sierra NewellThe 20-year-old was drunk and half-naked, as a surveillance camera from a shop next to the bar showed.
According to an affidavit, the two threw the baby in the air, turned him face down and shook him back and forth from about three feet away.
Police said the footage showed Sierrah sitting on the floor and Brianna standing while she “aggressively rocked” the baby up and down and shook her by her ankles on hard concrete.
Other people in the restaurant confronted her and a customer sitting at a table filmed her with her cell phone. In response, Brianna approached and “actually and intentionally struck her on the right arm with an open hand,” police said.
Sierrah, who was on crutches, also threatened to beat the witnesses.
Police said the baby was taken to the hospital because he had red spots on his back and a spot on his X-ray that “could indicate a broken arm.” He was later released.
Fox 35 reports that the arrest report did not reveal the identities of the baby’s parents, but Sierrah’s mother was at the scene during the incident and the state Department of Children and Families would be conducting a background check to determine whether she can take custody of the baby Child.
Brianna Lafoe was charged with assault and child abuse. Authorities set his bail at $3,500. Sierrah Newell was charged with child abuse and released.