Dad Throws 7-Year-Old Son Overboard in Newport Harbor


A man in California was charged with child endangerment after he allegedly threw his 7-year-old son off of a tour boat in Newport Harbor. The boy was rescued from the water by a passing boat, while his father, Sloane Briles, of Irvine, California, was charged with two felonies and released in lieu of a $100,000 bond.

Passengers on the tour boat, which takes tourists past celebrity homes along Newport Beach, said that Briles was hitting the boy before he threw him overboard.

Sheriff’s office spokesman Jim Amormino, said:

“He hits the kid a couple of times. The boy is crying. He picks him up and throws him overboard. They are in the middle of a harbor, and there is a lot of boat traffic.”

Amormino said that the boy was thrown off the front of the boat and could have been run over or been hit by the propeller. The boy was also not a good swimmer, according to Amormino, and it was lucky that a passing boat spotted him quickly.

Armormino continued:

“The main (danger) was throwing him off the front of the boat because the boat could run over him. There was the danger of him being hit by the prop. And the other danger is that because there are so many boats out there, it’s no place to swim, and because he’s so small, the other boats wouldn’t have seen him.”

CNN reports that Briles tried to redeem himself by jumping in the water after the boy, but he quickly lost any remnant of good behavior when police arrived. Briles fought with police and injured one officer before being arrested. The boy was taken to the Harbor police station before being handed over to their mother, Briles’ ex-wife.

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