At about 12:24 am Wednesday morning, a Turlock Police officer near the intersection of Grant Avenue and West Olive Avenue, Turlock, observed a vehicle violate the California Vehicle Code, so he made a traffic stop on it.
When the officer approached the vehicle, the driver refused to lower the windows. Due to not being able to see inside the vehicle because of its dark tinted windows and no response from anyone inside, the officer backed away and waited for additional units.
When additional units arrived, they surrounded the vehicle and started making several announcements for the occupants to exit the vehicle.
After about twenty minutes of not getting any response, officers approached the vehicle. Once at the vehicle, officers noticed what appeared to be someone hiding behind the front seat. Additional commands were given, but there was still no response. Officers breached the rear right window and discovered a seven year old boy in the back seat. They removed him from the vehicle and then discovered Julio Mancillas, 31, of Turlock, hiding in the rear cargo area. Mancillas was arrested without further incident.
Mancillas was on parole and was the father of the child in the vehicle. While speaking with Mancillas, officers formed the opinion that he was under the influence of narcotics.
The child was put at serious risk of death because officers had rifles pointed at the vehicle, not knowing that the child was in it. Luckily, he only suffered minor injuries from glass cuts. He was treated on scene by American Medical Response, comforted by officers, and then released to his mother who came and picked him up.
Mancillas was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of child endangerment under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death, resisting a peace officer, driving under the influence of drugs, and violation of parole.
