2 Florida parents arrested after school resource deputy is punched in face

DELTONA, Fla. (AP) — Two central Florida parents were charged criminally after a mother pushed a middle school resource officer and the father punched her in the face, authorities said Wednesday.

The parents in Deltona, Florida, were charged Tuesday with battery on a law enforcement agent and armed robbery, among other charges, because the father took the deputy’s taser weapon after she had been knocked to the ground.

According to an arrest report, the father became angry during a meeting in the deputy’s school office after she told the parents that another student wouldn’t face charges for throwing a shoe at their 11-year-old son, who also was in the office during the confrontation. When the father began insulting and cursing at the deputy, she calmly asked them to leave, the report said.

In a hallway after exiting the office, the mother placed herself between the deputy and her husband and pushed the deputy. During the struggle, the husband punched the deputy in the face and then took her taser, according to bodycam video released by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

After a few moments, the deputy got on her feet, drew her weapon and ordered the father to drop the taser. She then handcuffed the father. The deputy was treated by paramedics for a possible concussion and taken to a hospital for treatment, according to the report.

“To say, ‘I’m furious,’ is beyond,” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said at a news conference. “There’s no reason I have a deputy with a concussion for something so trivial.”

Online court records showed no attorneys for the parents.