Deputies in Central Florida acted quickly Sunday to rescue a baby from a man walking along a busy road high on drugs.
The man was spotted in Pasco County walking along the road with temperatures reaching 90 degrees.
Pasco County deputies carefully approached the man, identified as Roger Mumma, to make sure everything was OK.
“My number one goal was the safety of that infant,” Cpl Benjamin Birge said.
Deputies said they quickly realized Mumma was confused, agitated and experiencing paranoia.
“There a bunch of cars following me everywhere I go. I don’t know what’s going on,” Mumma is heard saying on body camera video from the Sheriff’s Office.
“I was incredibly worried. I didn’t know if he was going to run out into traffic out of paranoia that people were following him or that we were making contact. I didn’t know if he would recognize us as law enforcement,” Deputy John Gerardi said.
Mumma handed the baby off to Birge, but he did not want to cooperate any further.
The deputies said he started to get violent, so they took Mumma down to the ground and handcuffed him.
Mumma later admitted he took the drug Molly on Saturday night and then again a couple hours before deputies found him Sunday morning.
“Molly lasts a long time. Man, that’s like six hours, so earlier today, that’s this morning. You are probably still feeling it,” an EMT is heard telling Mumma on the body camera video.
Molly is a dangerous synthetic drug, similar to Ecstasy and MDMA.
Experts said because of the unknown mix of chemicals, users have no idea what they are taking or the dose.
It’s known to cause euphoric highs, panic attacks, psychosis and seizures.
“If you are not in your right state of mind, you don’t know what you are getting yourself into,” Gerardi said.
After arresting Mumma for child neglect, deputies bought the baby a bottle so they could feed him. They even changed him so he was dry, comfortable and happy.
“Looking at that infant during the whole confrontation, the only thing I could think of was my child at home. I knew he was safe, but at the same time, this one deserves to be just as safe my own,” Birge said.
The sheriff’s office said the baby is with other family members, who were thankful deputies stepped in to save the child.
