A Northern California mother was arrested after she allegedly grabbed a fifth grader by the throat while confronting him about bullying her 10-year-old daughter, sheriff deputies said Sunday.
According to the Associated Press, 30-year-old Delia Garcia-Bratcher came to an elementary school around lunchtime Friday and asked her son, who also attends the school, to point out her daughter's alleged tormentor, the Sonoma County Sheriff's office said in a statement.
Garcia-Bratcher, of Santa Rosa, was charged with felony of inflicting injury on a child after deputies took her into custody at Olivet Elementary Charter School on Friday. She was booked Saturday into Sonoma County Jail, NBC News reported.
"It's terrible when this kind of thing happens," Piner-Olivet Union School District Supt. Jennie Snyder said Monday morning. "Incidents like these are very rare."
Although the confrontation was not seen by any adults, several children were present to witness the incident, the statement said. Garcia-Bratcher had apparently not checked in with the school office before coming on campus, authorities said.
"The young witnesses later told a deputy the mother threatened the boy about bullying her daughter," the AP reported. "The staff at Olivet Charter Elementary School took photos of red marks on the boy's neck as soon as they learned about the alleged assault, authorities said."
Claiming that she wasn't aware of Garcia-Bratcher's daughter having a history of any bullying allegations, Snyder said she would work to prevent Garcia-Bratcher from stepping onto the campus again.
Garcia-Bratcher was released from jail after posting a $30,000 bail.
Attempts to reach her early Monday morning were unsuccessful. A number listed for her was disconnected, NBC News reported.
A court date has not yet been scheduled for Garcia-Bratcher, The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office said on Monday.
A telephone number for a Delia Bratcher was disconnected. But on a Facebook page that said it belonged to Bratcher, she posted that she was hurt by the accusation and asserted that "the truth will be told," the AP reported.
