Walmart Parking Lot Turned into Baby Selling Superstore by Calif. Couple, Say Cops

SALINAS, Calif. (CBS/AP) A California couple decided to try and give Walmart a run for its money when they tried to sell their 6-month-old baby for the bargain price of $25, according to Salinas police.

Officer Lalo Villegas, the spokesmen for the Salinas police, said that Patrick Fousek, 38, approached two women in the parking lot of a Salinas, Calif. Walmart Tuesday and asked them if they wanted to buy his child for $25.

The two women initially thought he was joking, but when he persisted they called the cops, Villegas said.

Fousek took off in a car with the child's mother, Samantha Tomasini, 20, after the failed sale of their child, but the women were able to take down the vehicle's license plate number, police said.

"[The women] did an outstanding job and gave our officers good information. I don't know if they're mothers but they definitely had that instinct to help," Villegas said.

Fousek and Tomasini were arrested early Wednesday, hours after the alleged baby selling attempt. Officers reported that they appeared to be high on methamphetamine and that Tomasini allegedly told Child Protective Services, who took the baby, that she breast-fed the infant while under the influence, Villegas said Thursday.

The couple faces child endangerment charges in addition to charges of being under the influence of narcotics. Fousek was also served with an extra charge of violating probation.

The couple was expected to be in court for an arraignment Friday.