Ashley Taylor Wright used her own three-month-old baby as her first line of defense against an officer who was trying to arrest her for shoplifting. Instead, she was still arrested and charged with the additional crime of child abuse.
According to WTSP and WTVJ, Wright, who is 23, was trying on clothes at a Dillard's in Santa Rosa Mall in Jacksonville on Monday. She took two pairs of Miss Me jeans and a pink Hurley T-shirt into the dressing room along with a baby carriage. Once inside, she stuffed the clothing, valued at about $260, into the carriage and then walked out of the department store.
A deputy approached Wright while she was in her car in the parking lot with the baby. Her husband was in the driver's seat, and two other small children were also in the backseat.
Wright yelled at her husband to take off, but apparently he wasn't in the mood to play getaway driver. When the deputy tried to get Wright out of the car, she held up the baby in a carrier and said, "You will have to shoot through the baby to get me."
Yes, she literally used her own baby as a human shield.
Wright then tried to run off and threw the baby at the officer.
Did she think the baby was going to fight the officer off for her or something? Child development studies show children don't obtain the skills of fighting off the po-po for their parents until they're at least two years old. Their little brains and fists just aren't developed enough at that age.
Luckily the baby was unharmed. As was the officer.
Wright then attempted to run off but was quickly captured by the officer. She received a laceration to her face during the scuffle, however.
She was charged with child abuse without bodily harm, petty theft, and resisting an officer without violence. So apparently throwing a baby at someone does not count as resisting an officer with violence in the eyes of the law.
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