CHP officer rescues boy held under water by ‘extremely combative’ Yuba County woman

A California Highway Patrol officer rescued a 4-year-old boy held under water in an irrigation canal by an “extremely combative” woman in Yuba County, officers said.

Taylor Delaine Green, 31, of Dobbins was arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide, child endangerment, resisting arrest, trying to take an officer’s gun and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the CHP Yuba-Sutter Area Office announced in a news release Tuesday afternoon.

About 6:30 p.m. Monday, the CHP received a report of a white 2005 Dodge Caravan blocking Woodruff Lane, a rural road just east of Armstrong Road.

An officer arrived and was checking the vehicle when he heard screaming coming from about 100 yards west of where he was standing. The officer then saw Green in some weeds adjacent to the irrigation canal.

The CHP said Green was “acting irrationally” and appeared to be under the influence of drugs. As the officer got closer to her, he saw Green holding the boy face down, “smothering him in the muddy embankment,” according to the news release.

When the officer reached for the boy, Green completely submerged herself and the boy in about 5 feet of water in the canal, the CHP said. The officer jumped in the canal and pulled the boy up from under the water, freeing the child from Green.

The CHP said the officer started to crawl back up the embankment as Green fought with him and tried to pull him and the child under water. The officer fought with Green for several minutes while holding onto the boy with his other hand, according to the news release.

Green then tried several times to take the officer’s gun from his holster “while she continued to violently resist,” the CHP said. The officer handed the boy to a Yuba County sheriff’s sergeant who had just arrived at the scene as he and Green continued to fight.

Sheriff’s deputies, Marysville police officers and other CHP officers responded and eventually took Green into custody.

Green was booked at the Yuba County Jail and was being held there Tuesday evening with bail set at $500,000, according to jail records. It was unclear in the news release whether Green was related to the boy.