Florida woman, 65, accosts, pushes group of girls walking home from school because they littered, deputies say
Vera Casselman (Photo: Marion County Sheriffs Office)
BELLEVIEW, Fla. - A 65-year-old Florida woman was arrested Monday after she allegedly confronted and pushed three Marion County students while they were walking home from school because she said one of them littered, deputies said.
Vera Casselman was charged with three counts of misdemeanor battery after the incident that unfolded near the intersection of SE 110th St. and SE 36th Ave. in Belleview on Monday at around 3:45 p.m., according to an arrest affidavit from the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
A woman contacted deputies after her daughter and niece, both Belleview Middle School students, and a Belleview High School student, were battered by Casselman on their way home from school, the affidavit said.
The woman showed deputies three videos from victims and witnesses that show Casselman allegedly walking toward the group of girls saying the "girl in the pink shirt" littered, the affidavit said. Casselman allegedly walked between two of them and appeared to bump into them "intentionally," deputies said.
Casselman refused to back up when she was asked, and also approached one girl "within inches" of her face, the affidavit said. Despite several attempts to separate, Casselman allegedly bumped one girl's arm with her chest and blocked another's path, and also pushed her forearm into the chest of one of the girls. Deputies said she "intentionally" pushed her shoulder into one of the girls during the heated argument, too.
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Deputies caught up with Casselman at her home in Belleview, and she admitted to confronting the students about littering, the affidavit said. She said she walked between two of the girls to talk to the girl who littered, but said one of the other girls tried to push her in the road.
"That alleged push was no shown on any of the videos," deputies said in the affidavit.
Casselman was arrested and transported to the Marion County Jail. She has since been released after posting $3,000 bond.