A couple in Florida has been arrested after they allegedly beat up a mother because they didn’t like how she disciplined her child in public.
The mother told police that her 4-year-old son was misbehaving at the time of the incident and he spit in her face, according to WPLG Local 10. She responded by smacking him once in the mouth and once on the side of the torso before a man, who was later identified as Terry Williams, approached her.
Terry, 66, allegedly claimed that he worked for the Florida Department of Children and Families and told the woman that she could not yell at or hit her child.
The woman told police that she told Terry to leave her alone and he walked away. However, the incident escalated when Terry’s wife, Mary Williams, approached her and aggressively tried to talk with her about how she had disciplined her child.
The mother then told Mary, 63, to leave and she tried to get her son in her car, though Mary allegedly placed herself between the mother and son so they could not leave the area.
The woman said she then tried to move Mary out of the way, and Mary allegedly scratched her, choked her and grabbed onto her shirt.
Terry then allegedly got involved in the altercation by grabbing the woman’s shirt and her hair. The couple reportedly ripped the woman’s shirt off, leaving her only in her bra.
Mary went into the mother’s car and turned it off before she took the keys out of the ignition.
Police confirmed that the woman had multiple scratch marks on her throat and a cut on her lower lip after the altercation, according to the outlet.
Meanwhile, a witness also told officers that she saw Mary and Terry attacking the woman as she appeared to not be fighting back.
“They were on both sides and they were just grabbing her and they were ripping the scrub shirt off of her,” the witness told the outlet, stating that it appeared the couple was trying to bring the woman to the ground. “She was struggling and that’s why her scrub shirt was being torn off of her.”
Following the incident, Mary was arrested on charges of simple battery and burglary and Terry was arrested on a battery charge.
Terry was released from custody on a $2,500 bond, and his wife remains in custody at the Broward County Main Jail on a $5,000 bond.
Once Terry was released, he spoke to a reporter from WPLG Local 10 who asked what happened. “Nothing,” he said.
It is not currently clear if Terry or Mary have entered pleas or retained legal counsel following their arrests. The Davie Police Department did not immediately respond to Us Weekly’s request for comment regarding the case.
