On Oct. 28, a 39-year-old mother of five Oriana Farrell was pulled over in New Mexico for allegedly driving 71 mph in a 55 mph zone.
Farrell, a Tennessee native who was vacationing with her family, allegedly argued with the officer when he attempted to issue her a $126 fine.
She fled from the scene in her minivan – which held her five children aged 6 to 18 – leading the cop on a short chase.
She was pulled over once again by the same officer, this time refusing to exit her vehicle.
According to the officer’s dashboard camera, Farrell finally got out of the car, but a struggle followed when the cop ordered her to turn around and Farrell instead ran back to the driver’s side of her Kia Sedona.
It was then that Farrell’s 14-year-old son confronted the officer. When the cop revealed his stun gun, the child returned to the car and Farrell locked her family inside.
Backup officers arrived shortly, with one using his baton to smash out a passenger window – where Farrell’s children sat.
According to the video, Farrell’s children screamed in terror as the incident escalated.
Farrell once again sped away and one of the officers fired three shots at her vehicle. Let me repeat – a cop fired three bullets at a car full of innocent children!
This led to a 10-minute high-speed chase, which finally ended when Farrell stopped in front of a hotel. The entire family was forced to lie face down on the pavement upon exiting the vehicle.
Farrell was arrested on suspicion of child abuse, possession of drug paraphernalia – there were two marijuana pipes in the car – and fleeing from police. She was indicted on those charges Nov. 12 by a grand jury.
Her son was charged with battery of an officer.
Since her arrest, Farrell has insisted she acted out of fear for the safety of her children.
She wrote this in an op-ed piece shortly after being jailed, “A uniformed officer can shoot three bullets at my van and be considered to be ‘doing his job,’ but my doing what I can to get my own children away from such a terrifying individual has been termed ‘child abuse’ and ‘endangerment.'”
Since writing the letter, Farrell was released on bail.
Although Farrell defends her actions, why did she flee from the officer in the first place?
Also, when he ordered her to turn around, why did she resist?
Instead of protecting her children, Farrell placed them in far more danger by fleeing and resisting orders.
But all the blame can’t be placed on her.
One officer used extreme force which could have resulted in the death of an innocent child.
What was he thinking? And will he be reprimanded?
The names of the officers have not been released, but the New Mexico Police have begun an internal investigation into the incident.
One thing is for sure – all of the adults involved in this incident acted irresponsibly and endangered the lives of children, and they all should bear the consequences. That’s my advice, but who am I to talk?
I’m just a fly on the wall minding my own business…