Few restaurants can claim to have hosted so many crazy, outlandish, and even violent events as good old Mickey D’s. Everything from horses in the drive thru, to numerous instances of violence between customers and employees, the store beneath the golden arches has seen it all. So it may come as no surprise that a woman was tasered by the police at a McDonalds in Bay County after she physically attacked a CPS worker.
Roberta L. Smith, a 31-year-old woman from Detroit, made headlines this past month when her supervised visit with her children resulted in numerous charges. It all began with Hampton Township police receiving a call that there was a situation at a local McDonalds – apparently Smith was threatening to remove her two children, a 12-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy, from the restaurant.
Angelia Dore, a supervisor for Holy Cross Services, and one of her coworkers, were overseeing the visitation. Apparently Smith was subject to certain visitation restrictions, and was not allowed to remove her children. She became irate and began shouting and cursing, at which point Dore told her that the visit was over. This made the two children cry, which inflamed Smith even more.
By the time the police arrived, Smith was furious. Police allegedly tried to calm her down but she refused to stop screaming. According to court records, she then punched Dore repeatedly in the head and when police officers attempted to intervene, she bit one on the neck. Officers were unable to subdue her sufficiently to get handcuffs on her, as she was kicking and punching at them. One officer attempted to calm her down by tasering her, but it had no apparent effect.
Smith continued to fight off the officers attempts to put her in handcuffs. She was tasered a total of three times before police were able to successfully subdue her. Smith was checked by medical personnel and then taken to the Bay County Jail. A subsequent search of her purse revealed marijuana.
She was arraigned on two felony counts of assaulting, resisting or obstructing police, which is a felony punishable by up to two years, and single counts of assault and battery, disturbing the peace, and possession of marijuana.
We never recommend attacking a CPS worker as a tactic designed to get good results in a case. Instead, get an experienced attorney involved to stand between you and CPS before the situation comes to blows.