BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Upon arriving at Memorial Hospital Aug. 19 for a quick visit with a friend who had given birth, a woman left her 3-year-old daughter in the backseat with the car running and a friend’s teen niece to watch over her.

As she approached the emergency room entrance, the woman watched as her blue Honda Civic left the parking lot, according to newly released court documents.

She rushed to the car and frantically tried to open the driver’s side door but the vehicle sped off with her daughter still in the backseat, the woman told police.

She got a good look at the stranger behind the wheel, later identified as Melissa Sherwood, according to police reports filed in Superior Court. Hospital staff told police Sherwood, sporting a black eye and wearing a blue shirt and hospital wristband, had just been discharged. Surveillance video captured her entering the vehicle, the reports say.

About 30 minutes later, Sherwood was located by community members, and was taken into custody a short time later in the 1700 block of Calloway Drive, police said.

Sherwood, 35, has pleaded not guilty to charges of carjacking, kidnapping, child cruelty and vehicle theft. Held without bail, she’s due back in court on Oct. 20.

According to the documents, the teen, 13, told police she was startled when Sherwood opened the door and at first believed she might mistakenly entered the wrong vehicle.

She told Sherwood she was in the wrong car. Sherwood responded, “Get the f— out,” the teen said according to the documents.

Afraid Sherwood would harm her or the child if she didn’t obey, the teen got out, the reports say. She told police she tried to take the child with her but was unable to unbuckle her seat belt before the car started moving.

Sherwood has prior convictions for vandalism, burglary and drug-related offenses, court records show. She has a pending case from an arrest earlier this year on a charge of driving while her license was suspended or revoked for driving under the influence, records show.