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Children found tied down in truck bed with bungee cords during Puyallup traffic stop, police say

PUYALLUP, Wash. — Two adults have been charged after a boy and girl were found tied down in a truck bed with bungee cords in Puyallup.

On Aug. 7, the Puyallup Police Department was notified of reports of a juvenile tied up in the back of a 1994 Nissan pickup truck, with two adult passengers in the cabin, traveling in Puyallup.

Responding officers located the vehicle during a search of the area and pulled the vehicle over at Veteran’s Memorial Drive and SR 410.

Officers found an 8-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl “under a tarp in the back with bungee cords that were across the top of the bed. These bungee cords were not enough to properly secure the juveniles in the back of the vehicle,” the Puyallup Police Department said in an arrest report.

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When asked how the juveniles felt about riding in the back, both kids said “fun,” according to police.

The arrest report explains that, “Neither child seemed to understand the danger of traveling at speeds that were in excess of 60 MPH in the bed of a truck and not secured inside of a vehicle cabin with seat belts, all while being exposed to the dangers of not having a cabin to be secured within.”

Police identified Philip Wells and Ambroisia Jurado as the adult occupants in the cabin.

According to police, when asked about the danger of having the children in the back, Wells stated, “It was kinda reckless,” and went on to say, “They could have gotten hurt.”

During a search, police say they found used hypodermic needles on Wells. Wells was booked into Puyallup Jail on one count of reckless endangerment (RCW 9A.36.050) and one count of delivery of drug paraphernalia (RCW 69.50.412). 

Police say Jurado is the mother of both children, and stated, "She allowed the children to be in the back of the vehicle." Jurado was booked into the Puyallup Jail on one count of reckless endangerment (RCW 9A.36.050).