Police: Florida Mom Tried to Run Over School Security Officer
The school security officer narrowly avoided being hit by the vehicle by jumping out of the way into nearby bushes.
Tarajayne Samuels-Catalan, 42. Photo via Charlotte County Sheriff's Office
Port Charlotte, Florida – A mother has been arrested for trying to hit a Port Charlotte High School security officer with her vehicle.
The incident allegedly happened on November 2. Tarajayne Samuels-Catalan, 42, dropped off her child and then tried to exit going the wrong way through a one-way entrance, reports ABC-7. She told responding officers she didn’t want to drive over speed bumps because they would damage her vehicle.
A school security officer stopped Catalan, telling her she couldn’t go that way because school buses were coming to unload students, reports MySunCoast.com. She became agitated but eventually backed up and turned her car around, which led the officer to believe she was cooperating.
A bus, which had started to pull in during the incident, was waiting for Catalan to move her vehicle. When her vehicle had cleared, the bus continued on its route, reports WinkNews. As the bus passed, Catalan turned her vehicle toward the officer and sped towards him.
The officer narrowly avoided being hit by the vehicle by jumping out of the way into nearby bushes. A witness saw the incident unfold and the school’s video surveillance system corroborated the officer’s allegations.
Catalan was arrested on Tuesday and charged with aggravated assault on a public or private education employee, reports Fox35. She is currently being held in the Charlotte County Jail without bond.
Catalan said she did not intend to hit the officer.
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About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
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For this specific reason, I believe all campus security staff should be issued and authorized to wear body cameras to collect valuable evidence to be used against the accused in criminal court as well as civil court.