Location: Crabtree and Holcomb, Porterville
Incident Date: 1-21-15
Incident Time: 2050
Case Number: 15-90012
Posted by: Media Relations
Suspect: Ruelas, Jorge 29 YOA Resides in Exeter.
Victim: Four year old male juvenile resides in Porterville
Detectives with the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department South County Gang Violence Suppression Unit, observed a vehicle with equipment violations and driving in an unsafe manner. The vehicle was stopped by detectives at the above location. Upon the detectives contacting the driver, a large amount of smoke was seen emitting from the inside of the vehicle as the driver, (S) Ruelas, rolled his window down. The smoke was found to have been produced from the suspect smoking marijuana with his windows up while driving. Inside the vehicle detectives observed the 4year old juvenile to be in the passenger seat without a child safety seat or a seat belt restraint. The juvenile victim appeared to be unconscious and would not respond when detectives attempted to awaken him. Detectives found the child to have a low heart rate and an ambulance was summoned to check the status of the child. The child subsequently awoke and the child and his mother, who had responded after detectives called her to the scene, were transported to Sierra View District Hospital for evaluation. There the child was tested to ascertain if he was affected by the suspect’s use of marijuana in his presence. A small amount of marijuana and smoking paraphernalia was located in the suspect vehicle. The suspect did not possess a medical marijuana card.The child was released from SVDH and returned to his mother. Suspect was booked on above charges.