Dad swung toddler ‘like a rag doll’ while stumbling in traffic, CA officials say
A father accused of swinging his toddler son “like a rag doll” while stumbling in traffic amid a “cocaine-fueled public episode” has been sentenced, California officials say.
Oscar Bonilla, 35, was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to felony child endangerment in June, the Butte County District Attorney’s Office said in a July 16 news release.
‘Child was in imminent danger’
Bonilla was seen holding his 1-year-old son while “stumbling through traffic” in Oroville on June 4, prosecutors said.
“Witnesses reported seeing him ‘flinging the baby around like a rag doll’ and pretending to harm the child with a knife,” Oroville police said in a June 5 Facebook post.
Bonilla dropped the boy in the street and ran, prosecutors said.
A witness “rushed in the roadway to rescue the crying child, while another used her vehicle to block Bonilla from returning,” according to prosecutors.
Several witnesses called 911, and police found “Bonilla minutes later,” prosecutors said.
“This child was in imminent danger, and thanks to the bravery of multiple community members and the quick actions of the Oroville Police Department, a tragedy was averted,” District Attorney Mike Ramsey said in a June 18 news release announcing Bonilla’s guilty plea.
Officers found Bonilla had a folding knife, prosecutors said, adding that Bonilla told officers he consumed “what he described as a ‘large bag’ of cocaine.”
The incident left the boy, who was “wearing only a pull-up and t-shirt at the time,” with “minor injuries, including a cut above the eyebrow and road rash to an elbow,” prosecutors said, adding that he was also “visibly distressed.”
Bonilla spent two days being treated for cocaine overdose at a hospital, then was taken into jail custody, prosecutors said.
Through an investigation, police detectives learned the child’s mother told Bonilla “she was ending their relationship due to his escalating drug abuse,” prosecutors said.
Bonilla then took the child without her consent, according to prosecutors.
Attorney asks for shorter sentence, citing deportation
During sentencing, Bonilla’s attorney, Larry Pilgrim, asked the judge “to consider a lower term,” prosecutors said.
Pilgrim noted that, as “a Honduran national,” Bonilla “would likely face deportation upon completing his sentence,” prosecutors said.
“I still maintain, as I did in Court, that it does not make sense for the taxpayers of California to feed, educate, provide medical care, etc., for him for six years when ICE has already been notified of his conviction and already has flagged him for deportation,” Pilgrim said in a July 17 email to McClatchy News.
However, Deputy District Attorney Niels Bringsjord asked the judge to reject the argument, “noting Bonilla’s crimes were committed in this country and deserved full accountability under America’s justice system and not a discount for being an illegal,” prosecutors said.
Judge Michael Deems agreed, calling Bonilla’s actions “egregious,” prosecutors said.
In addition to his sentence, Bonilla is prohibited from contacting the child, the child’s mother and a sibling per a “10-year criminal protective order,” prosecutors said.
Oroville is about a 70-mile drive north from Sacramento.
This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 3:06 PM with the headline "Dad swung toddler ‘like a rag doll’ while stumbling in traffic, CA officials say."
