Footage from a Nov. 15 search shows officers cutting a cord and guiding children out as a wanted man was later found hiding in a vehicle.
OGDEN, UT — Police body-camera video released this week shows Ogden officers opening a locked backyard shed and escorting five young children to safety during a Nov. 15 search at a home connected to a shoplifting case, then taking a 36-year-old man into custody nearby.
The footage matters because it documents the moment officers say a follow-up on a minor theft turned into a child endangerment rescue, now at the center of a criminal case. Investigators identified the father, Wilber Rojas, as having an active felony warrant and later booked him on multiple misdemeanor counts, including five counts of intentional child abuse. The video adds detail to what police described in affidavits, and it raises immediate questions about supervision, living conditions and next legal steps for the family. Authorities have not released where the children were taken after the rescue or their current condition.
According to the video, officers arrived at the property the afternoon of Nov. 15 while following leads from an earlier shoplifting arrest involving the children’s mother. After securing a warrant, they moved through the backyard and focused on a wood outbuilding. “Why are they locked in the shed?” one officer is heard asking before another cuts a cord securing the door from the outside. Seconds later, small voices answer back and five children—ranging from a baby to elementary school age—shuffle into view. “Come here, sweetheart,” an officer says, guiding a child away from the doorway. The video shows officers shifting from search to triage, gathering the children and calling for additional resources.
In reports summarized by police, the shed had an electric heater but no adult inside and no clear way for the children to escape if a fire started. The ages listed in the affidavit are 6, 5, 4, 1 and an infant younger than one. After the children were moved to safety, officers searched the yard and found Rojas hiding in a vehicle on the property. The video captures a brief standoff and the order to use a less-lethal bean-bag round; a loud bang follows before officers pull a man from the vehicle and detain him. Retired police commander Chris Bertram said the arrangement “scares” him because “the door was secured from the outside,” describing the risk as immediate once officers realized children were involved.
Child-abuse advocate Caroline Ashton called the discovery “alarming” and “far too close to home,” saying cases like this often leave children without a clear place to go once law enforcement steps in. She noted that Utah’s Children’s Justice Centers can coordinate medical checks, interviews and referrals in the hours after removal, though officials did not specify whether that process was used here. Police did not release the duration the children were in the shed, whether any were injured, or who else lived at the home. Neighbors are not heard on the video, and property records for the address were not immediately available in public summaries released alongside the footage.
The investigation stems from a shoplifting incident earlier that day in which the mother was arrested and Rojas allegedly provided officers with false information and a foreign identification card. Detectives said they later tied him to outstanding warrants, obtained a search warrant for the residence and returned to the address, where they found a truck from the earlier stop. The body-camera videos help anchor the timeline: officers arrive, locate the locked shed, remove the children, then redirect to find the wanted suspect in the yard. No weapons were reported inside the shed. The footage does not show where the children slept the previous night or whether child-welfare workers arrived on scene, details that remain unconfirmed.
Jail records show Rojas was booked into the Weber County Jail on Nov. 16 on five counts of intentional child abuse, providing false personal information to a peace officer and interfering with an officer. The listed child-abuse charges are class A misdemeanors under Utah law. A roster entry shows bond amounts posted for several counts; it does not list a felony child-abuse charge in this case. As of Monday, no district court hearing date was publicly available in the summaries released with the video. Prosecutors will determine whether to file additional or amended charges after reviewing the case file and the body-camera recordings, a routine step when video evidence surfaces after an arrest.
Advocates say the case highlights ongoing strain on front-line responders who pivot from property crime calls to child-safety emergencies in minutes. Bertram said the officers looked “caught off guard” but adjusted quickly once they realized “we’ve got to take care of these kids.” The video shows one officer kneeling to speak at eye level before gently moving a child by the shoulder toward another adult. Another voice asks for medical checks as the group is led across the yard, past scattered tools and the open shed door. The camera occasionally tilts to the ground, catching small shoes stepping over cords and onto bare dirt. None of the children speak at length on the recordings released, and their faces were partially obscured in the versions provided to local media.
As of Dec. 8, the Ogden Police Department had not announced disciplinary reviews tied to the response, and no protective order filings were immediately available in public summaries connected to the address. Investigators are expected to finalize reports, collect any additional surveillance video from nearby homes or businesses, and forward the case to the Weber County Attorney’s Office. Any juvenile court proceedings regarding custody or services for the children would occur under sealed rules and are unlikely to be public. If prosecutors file charges, the first appearance for Rojas would be scheduled in 2nd District Court in Ogden, with a probable cause statement and a standard no-contact provision considered by a judge.
For now, the video release adds clarity to a brief but consequential series of decisions on Nov. 15: a locked door with a cord, a cut, five children led into the open air, and a suspect pulled from a hiding place. Further updates are expected when charging decisions are announced or a hearing is set later this month.
Author note: Last updated December 8, 2025.