Police Dispel Rumors That Officer Threw Three-Year-Old On Ground

WATSONVILLE, CA — The Watsonville Police Department has released body and dashboard camera footage of a Feb. 15 traffic stop that ended in an arrest and rumors that the arresting officer hit and threw the driver's three-year-old son on the ground, police said.

An officer tried to pull over Jhony Lara near Sudden Street and Palm Avenue after noticing illegally tinted windows on his car, police said. The officer smelled burnt cannabis in the car, noticed his young child in the back seat and called for his supervisor, police said.

Officers asked Lara to stay behind the wheel but he exited the car and opened the passenger's side rear door where his son was sitting. Officers asked him to stop, but Lara continued to reach into the back seat and officers detained him. An officer's body camera fell during the struggle.

Police said they worried about the boy's welfare, and that the man could be reaching to get a weapon or destroy evidence.

They were also worried about two women who came to the scene, police said. One woman said she was the boy's aunt, but the women did not identify themselves, police said.

Lara continued to struggle after the officer handcuffed him, apparently trying to reach his child in the backseat. The boy wailed and thrashed as officers helped him out of the car.

The boy was handed over to the women and eventually picked up by his mother, police said.

Lara was arrested on suspicion of charges related to having an open container of cannabis in a car and obstructing an investigation.