A woman from Orange County has been arrested in connection with an incident in Fullerton in which a toddler fell onto a roadway from a moving vehicle, after video of the moment spread widely online. Police say the child, aged 19 months, was hurt in the fall and was treated at hospital, but is expected to recover.

Authorities say the footage places the incident at North Euclid Street and West Malvern Avenue. As an SUV makes a turn onto Malvern, the passenger-side front door is shown not fully shut, and the child ends up on the street. A car following behind stops in time, preventing a crash involving the SUV or the toddler. The video then shows a woman getting out from the driver’s side, lifting the child and returning to the vehicle.

Investigators estimate the incident took place on Tuesday, 20 January 2026, during the morning window between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. They say they began working the case after the clip circulated publicly. Police later received information from a witness that helped them trace the vehicle and identify the child’s mother. Officers subsequently located the SUV, the child and the woman involved.

Fullerton police identified the mother as Jacqueline Hernandez, 35, from La Habra, and said she was arrested and booked into the city jail on suspicion of child abuse. The case remains with prosecutors, who are assessing what charges should be filed. She was charged with misdemeanour child abuse, with her court date set for February 26th. This post will be updated as soon as details are released.

The video “depicts a small child falling from the passenger side of a moving vehicle at the intersection of N. Euclid St. and W. Malvern Ave,” Fullerton police said in a statement via CBS News.

“An adult female is then seen running from the driver’s side of the SUV, picking up the child, and returning to the vehicle before the video ends,” it continued.

“The female, identified as Jacqueline Hernandez, a 35-year-old resident of La Habra and the child’s mother, was placed under arrest and booked at the Fullerton City Jail for felony child abuse.”

An Anaheim police sergeant, Bryan Devor, who is not part of the investigation, told local media the video appears consistent with a child not being correctly restrained and with door safety features not being activated.