Pubdate: Thu, 28 Sep 2006
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2006 The Miami Herald
Contact:  http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/262
Author: Diana Moskovitz, BABY-TOTING COCAINE DEALER IS STILL SOUGHT BY DEPUTIES

The Broward Sheriff's Office is pursuing at least one lead in 
identifying a man caught on video selling crack cocaine while holding a baby.

"We've got a tip, and we're following up on it," BSO spokesman Hugh 
Graf said Wednesday, adding that investigators still are asking 
anyone with information to call them.

BSO released the video -- taped during an undercover sting in Dania 
Beach on Aug. 2 -- on Tuesday in the hopes that someone will identify the man.

With an infant in his arms, the man sold an undercover deputy two 
rocks of crack cocaine.

The deal went down about 11 p.m. in the parking lot of a motel at 825 
E. Dania Beach Blvd.

The deputies didn't arrest the man at the time because they didn't 
have enough backup and didn't want to endanger the child, Graf said.

The man could have dropped the baby or used the child as a shield, he said.

Deputies have not been able to find the man and want to make sure the 
child is safe.

"None of us can speak to the circumstances that occurred, but as an 
observer, all of us, our gut reaction, of course, is protect this 
child," said Roni Leiderman, associate dean of Nova Southeastern 
University's Mailman Segal Institute for Early Childhood studies.

"Certainly, this baby is at risk both physically and mentally of 
being in an environment that is not safe," Leiderman said.

A reward of up to $1,000 may be available for information leading to his arrest.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine