When you’re just watching it on the news, even though you’re likely concerned about the people and circumstances that led to the event, seeing a police car chase unfold can be almost exhilarating. That was not the case, however, in a recent incident involving the Arkansas State Police and a mother who did not want to pull over for speeding with her young child in the vehicle. Newly released video footage shows a toddler emerging from the overturned car after it crashed on the side of a highway in rural Arkansas. Miraculously, the toddler walked away unharmed.
The video footage is chilling.
A toddler was able to walk away from a rollover crash in Joiner, Arkansas, after a state trooper tried to stop a Dodge Charger that refused to slow down, according to KOMO. Authorities said the driver refused to stop so they were forced to use a PIT maneuver, which caused the vehicle to spin out of control and flip over on its roof.
In the body cam footage obtained by Fox 13, the trooper draws his gun and yells toward the vehicle, “Get out of the car with your hands up! Put your hands up!” Almost immediately, a toddler can be seen getting out of the back seat.
The trooper tells dispatch, “Got a toddler walking out of the back, got a baby.” He then can be heard yelling out to the child, “Come stay right here, you’re OK. Come right here, baby. Come right here,” Fox 13 reported.
How absolutely terrifying for that kid.
The trooper at the scene could not fathom why the woman ran from authorities with a small child in the vehicle.
Once the trooper knew that the child was fine, he yelled for the driver to get out of the vehicle while he held the toddler in one hand and a gun in the other, Fox 13 reported.
In the footage obtained by Fox 13, listeners can hear the trooper ask the driver, “Is it just you? Why did you run from me with a baby in the car?” She told him that she was just going to her mom’s house.
Once she was out of the car and handcuffed, the trooper told her that he clocked her going 80 mph in a 55-mph zone, per the news outlet.
The child’s mother was 23-year-old Thalia Jones.
According to Fox 13, the child’s mother, who was identified as Thalia Jones, denied speeding but told the trooper that she tried to escape because she does not have a license. This declaration did not go over well with the officer.
“That’s why you ran from me? You ran from me because you don’t have a license? You almost killed your kid. Do you understand me?” the trooper asked Jones, per Fox 13.
Both Jones and her 3-year-old son were medically cleared, and the boy was released into the custody of an adult at the scene, Fox Carolina reported.
Jones has been charged with reckless driving, driving with a suspended license, endangering a child, speeding, and unauthorized use of another person’s vehicle to commit a crime, per Fox Carolina. The vehicle she was driving belonged to her boyfriend. The incident was also reported to the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline.
We hope the little boy involved is with someone safe and nurturing who is giving him the extra care and love he deserves.
