Bizarre Twist In Abandoned Baby Case

Several arrests have been made in connection with the case of a baby who was abandoned in a livery cab earlier this week.

Among those arrested: the livery cab driver who claimed that a stranger had abandoned a baby in his car on Thursday. He was charged with making the tale up.

Police said the driver, Klever Sailema, 44, was part of a scheme by an overwhelmed Bronx family to abandon the child, who had been born to a teenage girl.

The girl's mother has been identified, police said. A man and a woman who were also involved in the abandonment have also been arrested, police said.

Police are reportedly seeking a fourth suspect in the case.

Sailema dropped the baby off at a Queens fire station Thursday after claiming that the child, who was about 6 months old, had been left by a passenger.

The cabbie told investigators his fare was a nervous-looking man who had gotten in carrying the baby and a bag with diapers and clothing.

The driver had said the man told him he was looking for someone to take care of the child because the girl's mother had left him three or four days earlier and didn't come back. "He told me he can't take care of the baby, so he's looking to somebody, maybe family, to give the baby," said Sailema.

He said the man then asked the driver to pull over so he could make a phone call, and walked off.

Sailemma drove the child to the nearest safe haven, a fire house.

After changing her diapers, firefighters brought the baby girl to a hospital, where workers dubbed her Lourdes. She was deemed to be in excellent health.

Police now say that Sailema was friendly with the baby's family and had agreed to help them turn the child over to the city. He was charged with filing a false report and endangering the welfare of a child.

A woman also involved in the plot, Maria Siavichay, 21, of the Bronx, was charged with endangering the welfare of the child. Police said a 24-year-old Bronx man, Marcelo Vinansaca, was charged with obstructing the investigation by giving false information to detectives.

Tim Jaccard, author of the "Baby Safe Haven" law, said he believes someone involved in the case called his crisis hotline for information on where to leave the child. He is convinced the man wanted to do the right thing.

"He spoke broken English. He wanted general information about the safe haven law and he was explicit about asking whether or not what it was in Queens, what was the safe haven laws in Queens," Jaccard told CBS Station WCBS correspondent Hazel Sanchez.

Jaccard said he told the caller he could also leave the child with a responsible adult as long as the person immediately notified authorities.