Shocking Video: Child Custody Dispute Leads to a Police Shooting, Wild High-Speed Chase and Attempted Murder Charge
A California mother is facing two counts of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, and felony evading after police told her that she could not take her 5-year-old child from his foster parents.
One responding officer is now under investigation to determine if his use of force was appropriate in the child custody dispute that erupted into chaos.
Newly released footage, taken on Oct. 1, shows Miesha Scott’s temper getting the best of her when officers from the Los Angeles Police Department verify that her son should stay with his foster father, her cousin.
The cops were called to the parking lot of a Target store at Gaffey Street and Capitol Drive in San Pedro to help settle the dispute between Scott and her relatives. The biological mother refused to return the young child to his guardians after a state-appointed visit.
Police video shows Scott with her hands raised, telling the officers, “Don’t walk straight up on me like that. I’m in distress.”
As the officers try to calm her down, she continues to beg them not to come closer and to give her some space.
The 39-year-old appears to be agitated. The more officers try to inquire about how they can support her, the more she pushes back and interrupts them.
Finally, she shares, “I’m having a hard time co-parenting with my cousin here.” She adds that he has been “urging” her to bring her son back to his care, and she doesn’t want that.
Still unclear on what is going on and why they were called, the police take control of the back and forth, asking her details about the boy in a vehicle she is standing in front of a white Chevrolet U-Haul truck.
“What’s the custody situation with your son,” one officer asks.
She responds, “The custody situation with my son is that my cousin would take care of my son and protect him by all causes until his mother gets out of jail and able to … obtain custody herself.”
As the officer tries to explore the details of the court-ordered custody agreement, including that her cousin became the foster parent because she was incarcerated, Scott is not forthcoming. Instead, she says the order has been “closed.”
The officer asks, “Who made the decision,” to which she swiftly responds, “Me.”
Eventually, the officers were able to verify with the Department of Children and Family Services that the order was still valid and that the boy should go with his older cousin.
After the son is safely in the care of his legal guardian, the woman returns to her truck. She seemingly drives the car as if she will leave the parking lot, turns the car back around, and rams into the group. She crashes into the foster mother and narrowly avoids a collision with another officer.
An officer attempts to stop the vehicle by shooting at it, but Scott then accelerates and flees the parking lot. This leads to a high-speed pursuit that ultimately culminates in her crashing into a tree at the intersection of Pacific Avenue and Paseo Del Mar.
Scott was then transported to the hospital to receive medical treatment for her injuries. Once she was dismissed from the doctor’s care, she was placed under arrest.
The foster mother’s injuries were tended to by members of the Los Angeles Fire Department and determined to be non-life-threatening. No other individuals were harmed during this incident.
While Scott was central to the dramatic events, the officer who fired at her vehicle is currently under investigation by the LAPD’s specialized Force Investigation Division, along with the Forensic Science Division.
Once the investigation is concluded, its findings will be reviewed by the chief of police, the Board of Police Commissioners, and the Office of the Inspector General to assess whether the use of force was justified and aligned with departmental policies.
It is unclear if Scott remains in custody.
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