A Wildwood woman has pleaded guilty to a carjacking that she said was an attempt to get the teen driver to take her to and give her the baby to whom she had given birth.
Forty-five-year-old Floribert Nava of Wildwood faces 12 years in state prison with a plea deal she struck Thursday.
Police say Floribert Nava, 45, was involved in a dispute with the girl over the adoption of a recently born child. According to the Press of Atlantic City, the teen was the child's biological mother and she recently gave her baby up for adoption to a couple in Philadelphia. Nava, however, desperately wanted to adopt the child instead.
Nava met the girl in Wildwood, according to police. During the meeting, Nava allegedly pulled out a gun and forced the girl to drive to Philadelphia, telling her that she wanted to be taken to the baby’s adoptive parents.
As the girl and Nava drove, investigators say a Delaware River Port Authority Police Officer was parked on the shoulder of the Ben Franklin Bridge assisting a stranded motorist. Police say the girl spotted the officer while driving on the bridge and purposely struck his vehicle.
"I don't know if it saved her life," said Cape May County Prosecutor Robert Taylor. "But it certainly was a smart move by the victim."
The teen then jumped from her car and told the officer that Nava was armed and had kidnapped her. The officer, who was not injured, quickly detained and arrested Nava. Police say he then found an “air soft” handgun as well as duct tape, trash bags and latex gloves inside the vehicle.
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Nava was charged with kidnapping, terroristic threats, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
As a native of Mexico who is not a U.S. citizen, Nava could face deportation.
The Press of Atlantic City reports the teen's baby was adopted by a family.
