A lady running with a baby in the car was stopped by police in Broward County using a PIT manoeuvre, as seen on dashcam video. The officer insisted that the woman’s refusal to stop made the situation “ten times worse.”
The emotional confrontation between Florida Highway Patrol Officer Jefferson Guerrier and the suspect, Vintoya Charneice Woodard, 28, occurred on Sept. 17.
Before 6 p.m., a Guerrier attempted to stop a Lincoln on Southwest 10th Street east of the Sawgrass Expressway because its license plate had expired. This sparked the start of the chase.
According to an arrest report, the driver, named Woodard, “began to evade and elude,” nearly hitting two automobiles and failing to stop at a red light.
For around three minutes, the officer followed Woodard until, according to the report, she turned onto Interstate 95 heading south.
At that point, the footage shows Guerrier executing a PIT manoeuvre while accelerating to the Lincoln’s right side. The suspicious car does a quick spin before stopping.
The video shows Woodward walking outside when the officer tells her to put her hands in the air and lie down.
She enquires about her child right away.
“Can I get my baby?” she asks, standing back up.
“No, get on the ground,” the trooper responds.
A baby’s cries may be heard as he approaches her.
“You’re under arrest,” the officer tells Woodard.
“Why?” she asks. “My baby’s back there. Could I call my sister?”
“Nope,” the trooper responds.
The two continue their conversation.
“Please get my baby. She chokes. She has acid reflux,” Woodard continues.
Guerrier is quiet.
“You heard me?” Woodard asks.
“Why’d you run?” Guerrier says.
“Because I know my license was suspended,” she says.
“OK, now you’re going to jail,” the trooper answers. “I would’ve given you a ticket.”
“Please don’t take me. You would’ve? Please give me a ticket. Please. My baby,” Woodard says, increasingly emotional. “My baby. She doesn’t have nobody.”
“We’ll figure that out,” the officer says. “You should’ve thought about that before.”
As the two talk the infant cries.
Woodard keeps saying that the child has acid reflux while the officer questions her, and she requests to be checked on. According to her, her daughter is “an NICU baby,” so she didn’t want to stop.
“I can’t give you a chance. You hit a car back there; you ran. That’s a felony,” the officer says. “It’s too late to give you a ticket now. We’re past that.”
“I was so scared… I didn’t hit anybody,” Woodard says as she begs to be near the baby, and a ticket.
“I wish I had that option here, but I don’t, it’s too late. Why would you run?” Guerrier responds. “We could work with a suspended license. I would’ve had you call somebody.”
After a while, paramedics and another cop arrive.
Guerrier informs Woodard as she is being taken away from Lincoln that the paramedics will call Woodard’s sister once they examine the infant.
She keeps saying that her child has no one else and asks for another opportunity.
“Trust me, I believe you,” the trooper says. “But you made the situation 10 times worse.”
Woodard’s brother appears to be able to be reached by Guerrier eventually, and he enquires as to whether he is being played off.
“I need you to come here so that someone can take the baby, OK? The baby’s in the ambulance right now. We need a family member to come take the baby because we don’t want [the Department of Children and Families] to come take the baby,” Guerrier says. “This is not no prank, I can promise you that.”
The man answering the phone says, “I’m going to come get my niece right now.”
Woodard is charged with driving on a suspended licence without having committed a prior violent offence, trying to elude law police, and neglecting a kid without causing grave bodily injury.
Although she was free on bond, it was unclear when or if she would return to court.
