A Colorado woman was arrested after being caught on video angrily shouting at and stuffing her five-year-old son into the trunk of a car.
Chelsea Trujillo, 33, stands accused of child abuse after a shocked bystander recorded the unfolding situation and later forwarded the video to the police.
Authorities described the incident as the boy being “forcefully placed” into the trunk of the car.
“Obviously, I think anybody who looks at that video would be concerned about the welfare of that little boy,” Pueblo Police Sergeant Franklyn Ortega told local NBC affiliate KOAA. “We saw what you saw in the video, but we need to look at the whole thing, that’s why detectives are involved.”
The incident occurred Wednesday afternoon in the northeastern part of the mid-size city which is some two hours due south of Denver.
“Get in there!” the woman can be heard screaming at her terrified and crying child. “Get in that fucking [inaudible]!”
The trunk of the blue Chevy Malibu can be heard slamming closed in the video obtained by local CBS affiliate KKTV.
The bystander who filmed the incident immediately responds.
“Dude, you can’t fucking put that kid in the fucking trunk!” the woman tells Trujillo as she walks closer while still filming.
The mother attempts to respond with a “dude!” of her own but is immediately shut down by the witness.
“Dude, you cannot put your fucking kid in the god damn trunk!” she says again.
To which the irate mother replies: “Yeah, I can.”
That answer sets the videographer off even more.
“Bitch,” she says. “You cannot fucking have that goddamn kid in the fucking trunk! Take the fucking kid out the fucking trunk!”
Eventually, the mother briefly gets an excuse in edgewise.
“Dude, I was gonna take him out,” she explains — while popping open the trunk and freeing her son. “Check this out.”
Then, the woman filming cuts her off again.
“No, fuck, no, dude,” she exclaims as she begins walking toward Trujillo and the scared little boy.
“Bitch,” she says as she gets closer. “I swear to fucking God.”
The two argue for a few moments more. Trujillo offers more excuses. The woman filming, however, rejects every entreaty and effort to explain the situation with similarly plain language. Meanwhile, the boy stands barefoot, crying and looking around the parking lot.
“I will tase you in your fucking face,” the woman filming says as Trujillo gets right in front of her. “You need to back up now.”
“You don’t know my child,” the soon-to-be arrested mother says in the video as the argument degenerates into an inaudible shouting match.
Police ascertained the mother and child’s location late in the evening the next day, according to the department.
The defendant is also facing one charge of violating her probation. The boy is currently in the custody of the Colorado Department of Human Services and is reportedly in good health.
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION UPDATE
33-year-old, Chelsea Trujillo and her son were located by Pueblo Police. Trujillo was arrested on child abuse and restraining order violation. Thank you to everyone who assisted on this case. pic.twitter.com/T8QM81dtGK
— Pueblo Police Dept (@PuebloPolice1) August 5, 2021
[images via Pueblo Police Department; Sara Lucero/KOAA]
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