A Florida couple was arrested for allegedly attacking a mother shortly after she smacked her child in the face to discipline him.
The mother told police that her 4-year-old son was misbehaving and had spit in her face when she told him off in a public parking lot, according to a WPLG Local 10 report.
She said she smacked him once in the mouth and once on the side of the torso before she was approached by a man, later identified as Terry Williams.
Highlights
- A Florida couple allegedly attacked a 23-year-old mother after she smacked her 4-year-old son in a parking lot.
- The couple reportedly scratched the mother and ripped her shirt off in front of her terrified son.
- One of the alleged attackers falsely claimed to work for Florida Department of Children and Families before the confrontation.
Image credits: Unsplash/Michael Förtsch (Not the actual photo)
The 66-year-old man claimed he worked for the Florida Department of Children and Families and scolded the mother, telling her that she couldn’t yell at her son or hit him.
According to the mother, Terry walked away after she asked him to leave her alone.
However, the tense situation allegedly escalated when Terry's wife, 63-year-old Mary Williams, got aggressive with the mother, questioning how she had treated the boy.
Image credits: WPLG Local 10
Just as she had with Terry, the woman asked Mary to leave as she tried to get her son into the car. But the 63-year-old refused to move aside.
The arrest report states that Mary was so furious that she stopped the mother and her toddler from leaving the parking lot.
“[The mother] attempted to place her son in the back of her Honda Civic … but Mary stepped in between them and the vehicle, thus preventing [the mother] from leaving,” the legal report on the May 6 incident reads.
Image credits: WPLG Local 10
When the woman tried to move Mary out of the way, the 63-year-old allegedly began scratching and choking her, to the point where she felt like she was going to pass out.
Terry allegedly joined the attack, grabbing the mother’s shirt and pulling her hair.
The woman accused the married couple of ripping her shirt off and leaving her in her underwear in the Davie parking lot.
Image credits: WPLG Local 10
“My child was sitting there screaming, ‘mommy,’ because he was watching me get attacked, scratched, clawed and bruised,” the 23-year-old mother, who asked not to be identified, told Local 10 News.
“The fact that my son had watched that and that he witnessed the whole thing…”
She described how, during the chaotic scene, her shirt ripped from her neck all the way to her belly button and the only way she could escape was by removing it.
Image credits: WPLG Local 10
The woman alleged that, in addition to the physical attack, Mary turned off her car and took the keys.
Police confirmed that the mother’s body showed signs of a beating, with multiple scratch marks on her throat “consistent with injuries sustained from being choked by Mary and her long nails,” as well as a cut on her lower lip.
Moreover, officers said Terry doesn’t work for the Florida Department of Children and Families as the man had claimed.
Image credits: WPLG Local 10
A witness in the parking lot told authorities that she saw Mary and Terry scratching the woman.
The Florida couple “were on both sides and they were just grabbing her and ripping the scrub shirt off of her,” the witness described.
The unhinged pair reportedly wanted to bring the mother to the ground.
“She was struggling and that’s why her scrub shirt was being torn off of her,” the witness said. “There really is no good reason for any person to attack a woman in a parking lot so viciously.”
Image credits: WPLG Local 10
Terry was arrested on a battery charge at the Broward County Main Jail and went home after paying his $2,500 bond.
Meanwhile, his wife was arrested on battery and burglary charges and paid a $5,000 bond.
When Local 10 News reporter Samiar Nefzi approached Terry after he left the jail, the 66-year-old man claimed “nothing” had happened.
Nefzi then told him about the witness’ description of the incident, to which he responded, "Wow, really? Interesting."
Image credits: WPLG Local 10
The 23-year-old mother said she’s now focused on her son, who was left shaken by the attack that unfolded right in front of him.
“The next day we got home, he asked me a couple of times, ‘Why did she hit me? Why did they attack me? Why did this happen?’”
The woman’s attorney said she would be pursuing legal action. He asked for a surveillance video of the scene to be released. Davie police confirmed they have the video, but it won’t be released publicly.