Monday, May 18, 2026 - A pregnant woman shockingly gave birth to a baby boy in the middle of a packed Brooklyn courtroom while waiting to be arraigned on a drug possession charge.
Samantha Randazzo, 33, went into labor surrounded by police
officers, prosecutors and court personnel during her arraignment in Brooklyn
criminal court on Friday night, May 15, according to a joint statement
from the Legal Aid Society and several other public defender
organizations.
Randazzo, who was nine months pregnant, suddenly slouched on
the bench where she was seated when her water broke just before midnight, her
lawyer, Wynton Sharpe, told the New York Times.
“We saw it,” Sharpe told the outlet. “She didn’t have to say
anything. We were like, oh OK, this is happening, like, now.”
She was arrested on Thursday evening, May 14, after
cops saw two people on a rooftop at a public housing complex in Sheepshead Bay
with a controlled substance “in plain view,” according to the NYPD.
During a search, cops allegedly found Randazzo in
“possession of a controlled substance” and cuffed her on drug possession and
trespassing charges, police said.
“At the time of arrest and when they arrived at the
stationhouse, Ms. Randazzo was wearing baggy clothes, did not inform officers
she was pregnant, did not indicate any disabilities and declined medical
attention,” an NYPD spokesperson told The Post.
Randazzo later complained she was experiencing drug
withdrawal symptoms and told officers she was pregnant. She was taken to a
hospital at 3:30 a.m. on Friday and later discharged. From there, cops brought
her to the courthouse, police added.
Sharpe told The Times that doctors had not realized Randazzo
was so close to giving birth when they released her.
His client wound up delivering a “bouncing baby boy” right
in the courtroom.
“It was a joyful and sad situation, given the
circumstances,” Sharpe said.
The Legal Aid Society and Brooklyn Defender Services — which
each had attorneys in the courtroom for other arraignments — claimed Randazzo
was shackled and handcuffed during the delivery without “adequate medical care,
privacy, or dignity.”
“She deserved care, compassion, safety, and dignity.
Instead, she was subjected to trauma and humiliation in full public view,” the
joint statement said, adding they are demanding a full-scale investigation of
the incident.
But Sharpe denied that Randazzo was handcuffed and shackled
while giving birth.
Al Baker, a spokesperson for the Office of Court
Administration, also told the Times that her wrists were cuffed behind her back
as she waited for her case to be called — and that officers swept in to remove
Randazzo’s restraints once her water broke.
“Our team of uniformed UCS officers acted with swift
professionalism to ensure the safety and sanctity of life for all individuals
in Court on Friday, personifying the everyday virtues of their sworn service,”
Baker said in a statement to The Post.
“We are delighted both mother and baby are well,” he
added.
Sharpe told the Times he expects Randazzo’s charges to be
dismissed.
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