Policewoman Leaps Fence to Catch Baby Falling From Ledge

DETROIT — An off-duty police officer, who admits she was too nervous to think, leaped a four-foot fence, stuck out both hands and made a clean catch of a 10-month-old baby falling from a second-story ledge.

“A week ago, I almost delivered a baby,” Officer Kimberly Lee said Wednesday. “And I’ve caught a couple of burglars, but I never caught a baby before.”

The child, Onika McClendon, was unhurt. Lee said she made the catch before the infant smashed headfirst into concrete.

“By the time I got (over) the fence, the baby was tumbling down,” she said. “I put my arms out, and here she came, like a heavy package dropping on my hands.”