A Robbins police officer and his girlfriend were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after they fabricated a story about an abandoned baby. Officer Justin Jones, 23, and Kendra Branch, 25, were taken into custody on Sunday.
Police say a woman initially reported finding an abandoned baby boy while out for a walk near the 3700 block of West 214 Place in Matteson, IL on Thursday evening.
The woman told authorities that the baby was buckled into a car seat behind a dumpster in a wooded area. The child was shivering, and wearing a soiled diaper and wet socks. The baby was transported to a hospital to be treated for exposure and a fever.
The woman’s story quickly unraveled when police identified her as Jones’s girlfriend, Kendra Branch.
Police also identified the mother of the child as Jones’s ex-girlfriend — and Jones was the baby’s biological father.
Both Jones and Branch initially denied knowing the baby. Jones and Branch lived together in an apartment near where the baby was found.
Police said the two made up the story to get the biological mother in trouble with DCFS “out of spite.”
According to the complaint, the couple is being held “accountable for filing false charges and creating an atmosphere of discord within the community, as well as wasting valuable resources.”
The child remains in the custody of child protective services. The agency is conducting an independent investigation to determine where the child will be placed.
