MIAMI — A Minnesota woman is facing a child abuse charge in South Florida after deputies said she tackled a teenager whom she thought had been part of a group attacking her sons on a Miami-bound Carnival cruise ― but they said it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.
Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Paetra Ann Grandsberry, 38, of Saint Paul, Minnesota, after the Carnival Conquest docked at PortMiami on Monday morning.
According to an MDSO arrest report, the incident happened at around 8:30 p.m. Sunday while the ship was near the Bahamas.
Deputies said Grandsberry became “extremely upset” when learning that her sons had been attacked and was speaking to security.
According to the report, Grandsberry “saw a group of kids running and thought that one of the kids running was the same kids (who) hit her sons. Without hessitation (sic), (she) ran away from security and jumped on top of the victim and grabbed him by his collar.”
The boy later told deputies that he “was randomly walking down the hallway” and began running after seeing a crowd running for safety, the report states.
“During the process of running, the victim advised that (Grandsberry) ran up on him from the back, tackling him to the floor and grabbing him by his collar and pulling him up,” deputies wrote.
According to the report, Grandsberry admitted that she “ran up on the victim and accidently (sic) fell on top of (him) and called him ‘little mother f---er.’”
Deputies said the victim heard Grandsberry calling her children “to attack him” and told security officers, “This is one of the kids who attacked my son.”
According to the report, the victim ran to his aunt for safety.
Grandsberry would admit, deputies said, that she “got the kids who hit her two sons mistaken for the victim” and “once she realized what she was doing was wrong, she got up and walked away.”
Authorities said the victim was unhurt and they contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families.
A Miami-Dade judge found probable cause for the child abuse charge on Tuesday morning, ordering Grandsberry to be held on a $2,500 bond, jail records show.
As of Tuesday morning, she was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
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