‘Get the baby out of the toilet,’ dispatcher tells sandwich makers

A newborn boy remains in stable condition Tuesday, just one day after his mother went into labor and abandoned the infant in a toilet bowl at a Subway sandwich restaurant in West Covina.

Once the newborn was found in the sandwich shop restroom on Monday, he was rushed to the neonatal unit at Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina. Officials said Monday that the infant’s core body temperature had fallen dangerously low and that he was admitted to the hospital in critical condition.

On Tuesday, Hospital spokeswoman Annette Macias said the infant’s condition was stable.

The newborn’s mother, Mary Grace Trinidad, also remained hospitalized Tuesday, according to the West Covina Police Department.

Employees heard the baby’s cries about 8:34 a.m. Monday when they entered the restroom inside the sandwich shop in the 2500 block of South Azusa Avenue, police said.

They found the newborn partially submerged in toilet water with his umbilical cord hanging from the bowl, authorities said.

“There’s a pregnant lady. She just gave birth in the restroom and she just walked out, so there’s a baby crying,” a female employee told a police dispatcher.

In a 911 recording, a dispatcher urges the employee to “get the baby out of the toilet and wrap him in blankets.”

The employee tells the dispatcher that someone is going to remove the baby after putting on gloves.

“Oh my God, they just put it in the toilet seat,” the caller says, sounding as if she is on the verge of tears. “They’re putting it in a towel,” she tells the dispatcher.

As the dispatcher tells the workers to wipe the baby off and clean out its mouth, the infant can be heard crying in the background.

“You’re doing a good job,” the dispatcher tells the employee. “You’re doing a good job. The baby is crying so that’s a good thing.”

Surveillance video from Subway shows a woman entering the restroom at 8:07 a.m. Ten minutes later, a woman was filmed exiting the restaurant’s front doors.

A trail of blood led police to the back of a Pep Boys auto parts store in the 1500 block of East Amar Road, where they found Trinidad in an alleyway, authorities said.

Trinidad, 38, of West Covina was arrested Monday on suspicion of attempted murder and child abandonment. Her bail was set at $2 million.

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