A 29-year-old man was arrested after a patrol officer conducted a traffic stop on his 11-year-old nephew in Port Hueneme over the weekend, police said Wednesday.
Genoro Lopez is seen in a booking photo released by Port Hueneme police.
The officer first spotted the vehicle mid-afternoon Sunday on the heavily traveled intersection of Surfside Drive and Hueneme Road and noticed a child behind the wheel of a vehicle making a right hand turn, according to a Port Hueneme Police Department news release.
After observing multiple noticeable traffic violations, the officer pulled the vehicle over; the car was partially off the road when it yielded, the release stated.
Meanwhile, as the officer conducted the traffic stop, the police dispatch center received multiple calls from motorists and witnesses that a child was driving with a man slumped in the vehicle’s front passenger seat, according to the release.
Police discovered the driver was 11 years old, and that his uncle — allegedly intoxicated at the time — was in the passenger seat. The child was seated on a sweatshirt, to help him see over the steering wheel and reach the pedals, authorities noted.
When asked why he was behind the wheel, the boy initially told the officer that his uncle was teaching him to drive, but he later told police that his uncle “was too drunk to drive,” the release stated.
The suspect, identified as Oxnard resident Genoro Lopez, is accused of having an open container of alcohol with him and showing signs of intoxication, police said.
Port Hueneme released this photo of the inside of the suspect’s vehicle.
After asking the man to get out of the car, police also found what appeared to be a firearm located between his seat and the door, according to the release.
At that point, Lopez was placed in handcuffs. Investigators later determined the firearm to be an imitation one.
Authorities also conducted a records check and discovered a misdemeanor warrant out on Lopez for being an unlicensed driver, according to the release.
He later allegedly admitted to investigators that the boy was driving because he was trying to avoid a drunken driving arrest. A criminal history check revealed that he had a previous DUI arrest in May 2017, authorities said.
Lopez is also accused of using methamphetamine several hours earlier, while the nephew was in his care, the release stated.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment, having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle and the outstanding warrant, police said.
He was booked at the Ventura County Main Jail, and was being held on $50,000 bail.
The child was released to his mother.
from KTLA http://ift.tt/2gHXJfk
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