As Florida deputies neared the end of a high-speed chase, a father, identified as John Henry James III, got out of his vehicle and did something totally unexpected. As CNN reports, Deputy Jacob Curby was among the officers involved in the high-speed chase.
And as Deputy Curby told WPEC, James got out of his vehicle with his baby in his arms, and without any sort of warning or regard for his child’s well being, “just turned around, no regard, not a little toss and overhand threw this two-month-old at me from about six feet away.”
Father Throw Infant Into the Arms of an Officer
Thankfully, Curby was able to catch the infant, leaving the child “unhurt.” According to the Sheriff’s office, the child has since been “relocated to safety.”
After tossing his child at the deputy, James was tacked to the ground by other officers at the scene and arrested. Aerial footage shows Curby cradling the infant as all of that happened.
YOU CAN WATCH CLIPS OF THE CHASE BELOW. Warning: This video disturbing images and contains foul language.
“I’ve seen some crazy stuff but this is definitely up there,” Curby told WPEC. “It was kind of awkward. I couldn’t chase him. I couldn’t tackle him. Not a whole lot I can do because he had the baby.”
According to CNN, the chase started after deputies tried stopping the man “for failing to maintain the lane.” The chase went on to last roughly 40 minutes as he was unfazed by multiple different roadblocks set up to stop him.
James has since been charged with two felony counts of aggravated child abuse, James faces counts of aggravated battery of an officer/firefighter/EMT, felony flee and elude, reckless driving, and resisting arrest with violence.
As CNN reported, he was also charged with aggravated battery on a pregnant woman, but no further information has been made public regarding that specific charge. He is currently being held without bond.