Inset: Brandon Lafleur in court. Background: A Texas judge raised Brandon Lafleur's bond from $15,000 to $100,000 after he allegedly hurled a 1-year-old girl out of a moving car and attacked her grandmother (KFDM).
A Texas man hurled a little girl out of a moving car and flung her grandmother out of the vehicle as well after delivering a vicious smack to the woman's face, cops say.
Court records show that Brandon Lafleur, 46, is charged with felony injury to a child in connection with the September 2024 incidents in Beaumont. Lafleur was taken into custody this week and jailed on bond after a tense exchange with the judge overseeing his case, local CBS affiliate KFDM reports.
A district court judge tore into Lafleur at the bond hearing, calling him out for allegedly injuring a child and her grandmother, who is Lafleur's girlfriend.
"You struck a lady. Who does that?" blasted Jefferson County Criminal District Court Judge John Stevens, according to KFDM.
The child's grandmother told police that she and Lafleur were arguing before he allegedly attacked her. She was sitting in the back seat of his vehicle with her granddaughter on her lap.
"It's so ungentlemanly," Stevens said. "That caused her to fall out of the vehicle, leaving the 1-year-old child in the passenger seat. Then, according to the lady who was thrown out of the car, you tossed the 1-year-old out of a car while you were driving the vehicle, causing the 1-year-old child to injure the child's face. Are you kidding me? You shoved a one-year-old infant out of a moving car?"
Lafleur reportedly replied, "No, Your Honor."
"That's what this says," Stevens fired back, holding up a copy of the probable cause affidavit for Lafleur's arrest. "And that's what the grand jury indicted you for. The child has facial injuries, and according to this, caused by what you did. Did the child rub her own face on the road? Is that your story?"
Lafleur told Stevens, "I have no idea," according to KFDM.
"Well, the grand jury thinks otherwise, and the police that investigated it think otherwise," Stevens replied. "But I must say, I'm appalled. I can't imagine throwing a 1-year-old out of a car in the first place. But a 1-year-old infant, a helpless infant, tossed out of a moving vehicle and then the child's face is injured. What's his bond?"
After learning Lafleur was held on a $15,000 bond, Stevens decided to raise it to $100,000 "based upon the circumstances," KFDM reports.
"On this court's watch, you will not harm an infant, intentionally harm a 1-year-old infant and toss them out of a moving vehicle," Stevens said. "This is one of the most disturbing probable cause affidavits I have read in my career, and I'm going to treat you like I would treat anybody in the same circumstance. Somebody charged with throwing a 1-year-old out of a moving car and causing facial injuries is going to be held strictly accountable on my watch. So your bond is $100,000."
If convicted, Lafleur could face up to 10 years in prison, KFDM reports.
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