State police: Hartford man arrested after leaving newborn on hood of a car in Mansfield in March

A Hartford man was charged after leaving a newborn boy on the hood of a parked car in Mansfield in March, according to the Connecticut State Police.

Police arrested Jorge Grados, 41, of Hartford and charged him with risk of injury to a child and intentional cruelty to persons after he abandoned the newborn on a car on the side of Pleasant Valley Road in Mansfield on March 23, according to the arrest warrant.

A woman told police she had parked near a field on Pleasant Valley to take pictures of a nearby pond when she saw a man pull up and leave something on her car. The man reportedly called out and told her it was a baby. He then drove off in a black SUV, the warrant said.

The baby boy, who was believed to be only 24 to 48 hours old, look purple and still had fluids on him, according to the warrant. Hospital staff estimated that the baby was born prematurely at around 28 to 30 weeks. The baby weighed approximately 2 pounds, 3 ounces, the warrant said.

A paramedic driving by shortly after pulled over and took the baby to Windham Hospital to be stabilized before he was transferred to Hartford Hospital for specialty care, the warrant said.

The paramedic estimated that the baby would not have survived more than 30 minutes based on the weather, his temperature and some respiratory issues he was dealing with, according to the warrant.

Detective collected several DNA samples from the scene, according to the warrant. After an extensive investigation that included numerous interviews and evidence seized, Grados was identified, according to the state police.

State police tracked devices in the area during the window of the 911 call and pinpointed a single device that met the criteria, the warrant said. According to state police, that device was registered to Grados.

Detectives learned Grados had a pending case for first-degree sexual assault after he was arrested by the Manchester Police Department on April 24, the warrant said. Police contacted his probation officer, who described his vehicle. The vehicle matched the description of the person at the scene of the March incident, the warrant said. The probation officer told detectives that Grados’ cell phone number matched the number of the device they pinpointed, which was also confirmed by the carrier, according to the warrant.

Judge Margaret Murphy approved a search warrant for the collection of Grados’ DNA on Sept. 23.

Grados provided a statement to the police on Sept. 26 and told them he had unprotected sex with a woman in Hartford in August or September of 2021. He said on March 23, 2022, the woman and another man approached him outside of his Willimantic apartment after he returned from the grocery store, according to the warrant.

The man and the woman allegedly told Grados that the woman had been looking for him because she was pregnant with his child, the warrant said. Grados told police that the woman said she couldn’t keep the baby because of where she lived and her illegal status, according to the warrant.

After trying to bargain with the woman, Grados told police the man, believed to be the mother’s cousin, allegedly displayed a firearm and told Grados he would “kill my family if I called the police,” according to the warrant.

Grados said the baby was then passed off to him, according to the warrant. Grados told police the baby had no clothes and was wrapped in a purple towel. He said the baby must have just been born because there was metal wire wrapped around the umbilical cord. He said he removed the wire and cleaned off the baby with bottled water. He then told police the two drove off, according to the warrant.

Grados said he drove around for two hours with the baby in his lap looking for a place to leave the child. He told police he thought about dropping the baby off at a firehouse but saw security cameras and people outside, the warrant said. Eventually, he told police he was driving on the rural road in Mansfield when he saw the other car and left the child, according to the warrant. He said he returned home and went to the car wash across from his apartment and vacuumed the car, the warrant.

Grados told police he wanted to know how the baby was, but he was scared to call anyone about it, the warrant said, adding that he was willing to accept responsibility for it.

DNA test results came back on Nov. 7 concluding that his DNA matched the baby’s, the warrant said. Grados was arrested on Monday at his home in Hartford. He was held in lieu of a $100,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in Rockville Superior Court on Tuesday, state police said.