BRPD investigating video of young child smoking weed in vehicle; 1 arrested

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The Baton Rouge Police Department has made an arrest after a video surfaced showing a 5-year-old boy smoking while riding in a vehicle with an adult male.

Police say they believe the child was smoking marijuana.

John Hall, 48, was booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for contributing to the delinquency of juveniles, distribution/possession with the intent to distribute Schedule I CDS and illegal use of a controlled dangerous substance in the presence of person under seventeen years of age.

Police say the suspect used to date one of the boy’s relatives.

Hall had nothing to say as WAFB’s Scottie Hunter questioned him while he was being hauled off to prison Tuesday.

Baton Rouge Police Spokesman Sgt. L’Jean McKneely says the department became aware of the video about two weeks ago and launched an investigation at that time.

The video was sent to police by a concerned citizen, McKneely said.

In the video posted here, WAFB has blurred the child’s face to protect his identity.

BRPD Cpl. Saundra Watts says they were able to confirm the matter after reviewing the video.

“We were able to positively identify Mr. Hall as the person seen in the video passing that suspected marijuana blunt to a 5-year-old juvenile who was puffing and pulling on that marijuana blunt,” said Cpl. Watts.

The WAFB I-TEAM was first to share the disturbing video that police say was vital in their investigation. While police believe this was a one-time thing, they want to send a message to anyone out there who thinks something like what was seen in the video is okay.

“When we have individuals like this that are forcing children to partake in illegal substances, we want the public to know that they can reach out to us, provide us with that information and we will bring that person or persons to justice,” said Cpl. Watts.

This is not the first time this same child has fallen into a dangerous situation. Police confirm the 5-year-old was the same little boy who was badly hurt a few weeks ago with another child when an AK-47 went off in a home where Desiree Felder was supposed to be watching them. Felder was arrested and later bonded on a $2,500 bail.

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Police say their primary concern is for children who are caught up in bad situation and their mission is to go after the adults responsible.

“We are concerned about the children in our community,” said Cpl. Watts. “Children are innocent and we’re going to make sure that we protect the children in this community by bringing to justice those persons who are involved in crimes when we have juveniles involved as well.”

Don Coppola with the Greater Baton Rouge Crime Stoppers said a tip into their agency was crucial in helping police track Hall down.

“You know, Scottie, we have seen an increase and we want to continue to see an increase because people are tired of the senseless acts of crime that’s going on, so we want to give them a safe route to call and to report that knowing that they are anonymous,” said Coppola.

WAFB did ask police if the child was drug tested and officials confirmed he was not. They also assured the public the child is safe.

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