By Lauren Zaren
A man allegedly jumped into a boy’s backyard and afterward threatened a child not to tell anyone what he saw.
At 7:37 am on Sept. 13, 2019, Humberto Tejeda, Jr., was the suspect in a report of a suspicious vehicle on East Street in Woodland. When police approached the blue Ford Taurus, a number of events unfolded, leaving Mr. Tejeda to face five new charges on top of his criminal history. Mr. Tejeda faces a felony charge for dissuading a witness or victim, along with four misdemeanors: giving false identification, resisting or obstructing an officer, trespassing on private property, and possession of a controlled substance.
When Woodland Police Officer Joseph Nott first approached the defendant, he was looking from left to right, trying to avoid eye contact. The defendant gave the false name Pedro Tejeda along with a fake date of birth, and after a minute or two of conversation, Tejeda took off running north. He testified that he did not order the suspect to stop at this point. Officer Nott chased him on foot for 30 yards until his field training officer instructed him to resume the chase using his vehicle.
Officer Nott and other officers then conducted an area check in pursuit of Tejeda. One officer shared a photo of the defendant, who had an outstanding felony charge, and Officer Nott realized that 
he had earlier been given a false identity.
In an attempt to avoid the police, Mr. Tejeda jumped a fence into Casa Del Sol mobile home park, where he ran through a backyard and attempted to enter a trailer through a sliding glass door. When he was unable to open the door, he broke a fence while leaving the backyard and ran off toward another trailer.
The day before, a blue vehicle attempted to run over the property manager of the trailer park. There is video footage of the incident. This prompted the manager to call about Mr. Tejeda’s vehicle.
A young child who lived in the trailer Mr. Tejeda initially approached witnessed the entire sequence of events. The six- or seven-year-old boy was waiting for the school bus and saw a man, who had many tattoos and was wearing a red T-shirt and shorts, jump a fence into his backyard. He did not have a full view of the situation but heard his dog yelp, and believed the man kicked him. After leaving the boy’s backyard, Mr. Tejeda warned him that if he told anyone what he saw, he would harm his family.
Shortly after, the child was able to report the incident to Officer Nott. He was understandably shaken and had begun to cry. Later that day, his older brother was contacted by his elementary school principal and was picked up early. He had shared with his teacher that he believed a man tried to break into his house and broke a fence in his backyard.
Officer Nott also testified that Mr. Tejeda had a usable quantity of methamphetamine on his person at the time of these events.
Mr. Tejeda will be held to answer for all five counts. An arraignment for this case as well as another case concerning the defendant will be held on November 27 at 8:30 am in Department 14.
