Westchester Worst Nightmare

Another glimpse into the psyche of the metropolitan-area upper-middle class — the nanny leaves behind the baby to go shopping with your Mercedes:

A Westchester nanny made two big mistakes when she decided to do a little Christmas shopping on her bosses’ time.

Victoria Braithwaite took the Scarsdale couple’s Mercedes-Benz for the ride – and left their 16-month-old daughter home alone for more than an hour, authorities said yesterday.

By the time Braithwaite, 27, rolled back into the driveway, the baby’s mom, who unexpectedly stopped by the house, was waiting for her – along with the cops.

“It’s more than a little disappointing,” Cordes George, 43, father of little Ashley, said yesterday. “We’re pretty upset.”

. . .

“I know it was totally wrong,” the distraught nanny told the Daily News last night. “I can’t explain why I did this. It’s like a nightmare ever since. I’m a good person. I’ve never even been to a police station before.”

Braithwaite, a Hungarian immigrant who had worked for the family for three months, said she put Ashley down for a nap before driving off.

“I was 100% sure she was sleeping, and she usually sleeps for an hour. I thought I would go 10 minutes away to the Cross-County Mall,” Braithwaite said. “It was an error in judgment. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

And to make matters worse, the nanny then must endure the wrath of Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro:

“You’d have to be a halfwit to think that leaving a 16-month-old baby alone is okay,” Pirro said. “I’m sure an angel was protecting this baby.”