Video showing toddler walking toward police with her hands up as dad gets arrested goes viral

Amateur footage of an arrest being made by police officers has gone viral due to its unusual content.

On Thursday, cellphone footage showed the Tallahassee Police department, Florida making an arrest on the road as they stopped a pick-up truck believed to be occupied by suspects. The occupants were suspected shoplifters.

As the officers went about their duty of incarcerating the occupants of the vehicle which included a man and a woman, focus shifts back to the truck as the footage shows a toddler clamber out of it. The child who was later identified as female raised both her hands above her head as she walked towards the police officers barefooted with unbalanced steps while imitating the adults.

While the people in the video laid claims that the officers drew their guns on the child, Body cameras from the police officers show otherwise and more detailed coverage of the scenario.The body cameras show the officers talking to the adult occupants of the vehicle who turned out to be the parents of the 2-year-old child.When asked if there were any more occupants in the vehicle, the man answered “No sir, Just my 2-year-old daughter, and 1-year-old son”.

A second video then shows an officer and the children’s mother retrieving an infant from the back cab of the truck.Apparently, store employees reported the theft to the police who apprehended the suspects identified as Chad M. Bom and James W. McMullen at the Bealls store parking lot on Capital Circle Northeast.A search was conducted, and a pellet gun was found inside the vehicle.

However, the TPD chief, Michael DeLeo made it known that ten body cameras were perused.

“The videos show that there are different perspectives of an incident that caused concern among citizens, and justify the investment in body-worn cameras, the importance of all the facts and the professionalism of your officers." He said.

“I am proud of how officers handled the situation, how they adapted when they became aware of the children, the level of concern and compassion they showed to the family.”

In his own opinion, Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey said the contrast of the videos shows officers working with their community.

“This video footage captures the compassion demonstrated by our TPD officers during an intense situation,” he said in a statement.

“I’m very proud of their actions and appreciative of the work these men and women do each day to keep our community safe” as he continued while being appreciative of the police.