Saturday, August 22, 2009

Texas woman arrested for striking a 13-year-old wheelchair user

From The AP:


DALLAS — Authorities say a 23-year-old woman has been arrested after a scuffle with a wheelchair-bound 13-year-old boy at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.

Mikka Shardai Cline, of Waco, was charged with injury to a child in connection with the struggle over a soccer ball on August 18.

The boy's uncle said he was trying to retrieve the ball, which he had purchased for the boy, from a bush on hospital grounds. Cline and her sister were also trying to get the ball.

The boy had a pre-surgical medical halo screwed into his skull, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Police said that, when the uncle handed the ball to the boy, Cline's sister tried to get it from his lap but was blocked by the uncle. Cline tried to grab the ball, swinging her fist twice toward the boy. It was unclear whether she was swinging at the boy or trying to knock the ball out.

A second swing struck the boy's halo, causing him pain, according to the police report. Cline was being held in the county jail on $1,500 bond Wednesday afternoon.