WATSONVILLE—Footage from two body-worn cameras – and from the dashboard of a police vehicle – has disproven a claim by a man that Watsonville police officers hit and threw his 3-year-old son to the ground during a traffic stop.
Officer Matt Williams stopped Jhony Argueta, 34, at Palm and Sudden streets on Feb. 15 for having tinted windows.
The video shows Williams briefly speaking with Argueta, and asking for his ID and other information. Williams also asked him if he had been smoking marijuana after smelling it in his vehicle.
Williams then spent about five minutes writing a citation, as other officers arrived.
As he did, two women then walked to the scene wanting to take the boy, but refused to identify themselves to officers.
Soon after that, Argueta exited his vehicle and ignored officers’ repeated commands to get back in. He opened the back door of his vehicle where his son was sitting. That was when officers detained Argueta and placed him in handcuffs.
“Our concern is that he could be trying to get a weapon or destroy evidence,” WPD stated in a Facebook post. “It is a safety concern for all, as we’re unaware of his intentions.”
During the struggle, Williams’ camera fell to the ground.
Body camera footage from K9 officer Brian Fulgoni showed the interaction after William’s cam fell.
Fulgoni took the boy from the back seat, as he cried and squirmed.
Argueta agreed to hand the child to the women, who hesitated to take the child, and instead kept recording the incident.
Fulgoni then handed the struggling child to the women. During Argueta’s arrest, the women refused multiple requests to take the boy away from the scene. His mother later took him away.
At no time did the boy fall, and the video footage shows that officers never struck him.
Argueta was arrested for having an open container of marijuana and obstruction.
He later came to Watsonville Police Department to file a formal complaint, after making defamatory statements about the incident on social media, WPD spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said.
Pulido credited the officer’s body-worn cameras, which helped tell the story of the incident. The department purchased the cameras last year.
“Clearly what we were seeing was a completely different story,” she said. “This is once again proof how beneficial the body-worn cameras are to the department and the community.”
The footage showed the officers trying to de-escalate the situation, Pulido said.
“(Argueta) would have walked away with a ticket,” she said.
