Mom Charged With Throttling 'Bully' May Have Grabbed Wrong Boy, Police Say
A California mother accused of grabbing a boy by the neck for allegedly bullying her daughter may have grabbed the wrong boy, police said today.
Delia Garcia-Bratcher, 30, was charged with felony child abuse on Friday after she allegedly went onto the campus of her kids' elementary school and grabbed an 11-year old boy by the neck while threatening him about bullying her daughter police said. She was released on $30,000 bail.
The Sonoma County Sheriff Department's investigators said today that Garcia-Bratcher may have accused the wrong boy of bullying her daughter.
"So far we found no nexus between the kids. We think it was wrong identity, but we don't know yet," Lt. Steve Brown told ABC News. "The [victim] doesn't ride the bus with her [the daughter] or have a class with her or eat lunch with her, so we don't know if it was the right student or if bullying was even occurring. There is no connection so far."
Initial police reports said that Garcia-Bratcher went to the Olivet Elementary School about noon on Friday, asked her son to point out the boy who had supposedly bullied her daughter, and then grabbed the boy by the throat in front of several students.
No school faculty or staff witnessed the alleged assault, but after they became aware of the incident staff took pictures of the victim's throat which had red marks consistent with being grabbed on the neck, according to police.
Garcia-Bratcher, who has not appeared in court yet, could not be reached for comment.
Olivet Elementary School officials declined to comment on the incident.