Woman accused of trying to steal baby from Duke nursery

Tanisha Weaver, 18 Shannon Road in Louisburg, is charged with abduction of children, according to court records. She was being held under a $20,000 bond in the Durham County jail on Tuesday.

Duke police said the incident occurred around 2 p.m. at the hospital's North Ancillary, at 2301 Erwin Road.

Duke Hospital President Kevin Sowers said that the baby and mother were OK. "We continue to provide our support to them," he said.

Hospital staff recognized that Weaver was not authorized to take the child, called police and detained her until investigators arrived, Sowers said.

"We're very proud of our staff and the actions that they took to actually protect the safety and security of the infant," he said, "but also their ability to isolate the perpetrator and actually stop the person until the police arrived."

Sowers said the hospital doesn't plan to change any security procedures as a result of the incident.

"The safety and systems, security, that we have in place to protect our infants and our families actually worked beautifully, and our staff responded in the best way that they could," he said.

Weaver's uncle, Anthony Q. Alston Sr., said she moved to Louisburg two months ago from New Jersey. He said the crime Weaver is accused of is completely out of character for her.