Police Defend Mom's Viral Arrest at Disneyland

A mother was handcuffed and marched out of Disneyland Tuesday as her two young daughters clung to her legs, sobbing and calling for help, in an incident caught on video that quickly went viral. Authorities on Thursday said despite the heart-wrenching scene, the woman, 26-year-old Jessenia Diaz, is actually a habitual gate-crasher at the Anaheim, California, theme park, the Los Angeles Times reports. Diaz herself is an annual passholder, but authorities say she walked through the gates of Disney's California Adventure park without tickets for her daughters, and that she is suspected of having done so at least four times over the past two months, the Orange County Register reports. (Only toddlers and infants, ages 2 or under, are allowed into the amusement park without a ticket.)

Disneyland's security team initially confronted Diaz and told her the family could remain in the park if she bought her kids tickets, but authorities say she refused to cooperate and Anaheim police were then called in, KTLA reports. She was arrested, but was ultimately released with a citation for failing to show officers her ID. Diaz later went on TikTok to call the officials' account "full of lies," saying she might sue Disneyland, KTLA reports. Reddit was full of commenters who suspect the theme park likely banned Diaz after the incident. (More Disneyland stories.)