Deputies: Man taking Molly surrenders infant before arrest

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A pair of Pasco County deputies are being credited with saving a 6-month-old baby from a potentially-dangerous situation over the weekend.

The deputies' body cameras recorded as it unfolded: a man, identified as Roger Mumma, was loosely carrying the child as he walked down Little Road in New Port Richey Sunday morning.

"My number one concern, as the father of a 9-month-old myself was, 'we got to get this kid, this is not good,'" recalled Cpl. Benjamin Birge.

Deputy John Gerardi was the first to approach Mumma, and the conversation was casual at first, but quickly took an odd turn.

"Is everything all right?" the deputy can be heard asking in the video recorded by his own body camera.

"Yeah, just, people are following me," Mumma responded, as he holds the baby with one arm.

"Who's following you?" the deputy asked.

"I don't know, man. There's a bunch of cars following me everywhere I go. I don't know what's going on," Mumma said.

Not long after, Cpl. Birge also approaches.

"I'm a father myself. Stop. We got a call that somebody was walking with an infant," he can be heard telling Mumma, who then hands the child to the deputy.

"Here you go, man. It is what it is," Mumma said.

"[He] appeared to be under the influence of some kind of narcotic," Birdge told FOX 13 News during an interview Tuesday. "I didn't want him to run, because of the child, and I really didn't want him to fight because of the kid."

Investigators said Mumma would later admit he had taken the drug Molly about two hours earlier.

Deputies said they could tell he was high and was becoming "aggitated and aggressive" as they tried to search him. That's when the two deputies tackled Mumma to the ground, while Birge cradled the baby with one arm.

"My biggest fear was that, in his paranoid and drug-induced state, he was going to hit Little Road and at that point there was not going to be much I could do," Birge said, adding he's thankful the child is fine. "This is one of those calls where this is the reason you get into law enforcement. We made a difference that day."

Deputies bought a bottle and diapers to care for the baby while they waited for family members to arrive.

Mumma was charged with child neglect and resisting arrest. His relationship to the child was unclear.