A woman gave birth in a McDonald's bathroom in Lino Lakes, authorities said Sunday.

The commotion started about 5:20 p.m. Saturday at the fast-food restaurant on Otter Lake Road, just off of Interstate 35E at the County Road 14 exit, police said.

Soon after police officers arrived, the mother was taken to United Hospital in St. Paul and the newborn to a children's hospital in the Twin Cities, said police Sgt. William Owens. The sergeant had no information Sunday afternoon about their conditions.

Authorities declined to identify the woman, except to say she was in her 20s.

Assistant manager Josh Zidar said he was in back in the office when "I heard some screaming coming from the lobby."

The woman's mother "came out of the bathroom screaming for 911," Zidar said.

Police, accompanied by an ambulance, "shut down our front door, right by the bathroom and said there was a baby."

Zidar caught a glimpse of the mother being rolled out on a stretcher. He said he heard that the newborn was born premature.

Zidar said he and his staff at the Lino Lakes McDonald's, which opened in June, "did our best and called the people who could help."

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482