By Jeremy Walsh
The child, who was eventually identified as Daniella Cosme Perez, was dropped off at Engine Company 289 around 10 a.m. last Thursday by Elmhurst resident Klever Sailema, 45, a livery cab driver.But by Saturday, Sailema had been arrested after an anonymous tip led to an apartment on West 182nd Street in the Bronx, where police brought in for questioning the teenage mother, identified by the New York Post as Yelemer Cosme Perez, and the baby's aunt, 21-year-old Maria Siavichay, who is also Sailema's girlfriend.Offers poured in from around the city to adopt the baby girl, named Lourdes by the staff at St. John's Hospital in Elmhurst, after police circulated her picture and went door to door in Queens trying to find her parents.”I think there are about 800 women in this building who want to take her home,” said Annette Harris, the hospital's executive director, at a news conference last Thursday. The baby was in good health, staff said.Both Daniella and her mother were placed with foster families by the city Administration for Children's Services. Sheila Stainback, a spokeswoman for the agency, said a court will decide who gets custody of the baby after the ACS issues a recommendation.A manhunt was launched for Carlos Rodas, the baby's 27-year-old father, who was believed to be close to surrendering as of Tuesday evening, according to a police source.Sailema admitted to lying to police and was charged with criminal facilitation and filing a false report, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Queens district attorney's office. Siavichay was also charged with criminal facilitation in the scheme. A third man, Marcelo Vinansaca, 24, who shared the Bronx apartment with Siavichay and Rodas, was charged with obstructing governmental affairs after providing false information to investigators. Sailema and Siavichay were arraigned and released on their own recognizance Saturday in Queens Criminal Court. Their next court date is April 4. If convicted, they each face up to one year in jail.Daniella's story began mysteriously. When first questioned last Thursday, Sailema told police that an unidentified Hispanic man hailed his cab at 105th Street and Northern Boulevard and got in with the baby. Sailema said he stopped near 83rd Street so the man could use a pay phone, at which point the man fled, leaving the baby, the complaint said.What really happened, according to the complaint, was Sailema, Siavichay, and Rodas, Siavichay's brother, made plans the previous week to drop the baby at a local firehouse. It was unclear why the father had custody of the child, a police source said, noting the mother has claimed she was thrown out of the apartment, while Rodas and Siavichay said the mother ran off, leaving the baby behind.When Sailema got a phone call from Siavichay last Thursday asking for his help, he drove Siavichay and the baby from the Bronx to Queens, the complaint said. But Siavichay got out of the car along the way, fearing immigration problems, the complaint said, leaving Sailema to take Daniella to the firehouse.Several powerful figures have expressed support for Sailema's plight. At an appearance in Jacksonville, Fla. Monday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the cabbie was trying to do the right thing, the Associated Press reported.Fernando Mateo, president of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, hailed Sailema as a positive example for cab drivers before the arrests and later pledged to support Sailema's legal defense.State Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Glendale) said he sympathized with the cab driver and had spoken to Queens DA Richard Brown about dropping the charges.”I would expect that he's going to do the right thing in this case,” Maltese said. “He's a very compassionate gentleman.”Kevin Faga, Sailema's attorney, said that to convict his client, the DA's office would have to prove Sailema was aware that someone was committing a crime and that he intended to help them commit the crime.”That's not the case,” he said. “He had no idea there was criminality involved, and had no intention whatsoever of committing any crime.”Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jwalsh@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
