OPA-LOCKA, Fla. — A moment of rage caught on surveillance video at a daycare changed a 39-year-old mother’s life in Miami-Dade County, records show.
Maria Roda-Blanco, who was born in Uruguay and doesn’t have a criminal record, faced a charge of battery on a school employee and a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold, records showed.
Roda-Blanco appeared before Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer on Thursday morning.
“She messed with my child, who has autism and is 3 years old,” Roda-Blanco told Glazer in Spanish. But, the Spanish-to-English translator said Roda-Blanco said, “She was the one who started it.”
The surveillance camera was recording at the Rosalphanie Child Care on Jan. 21, at 2570 NW 139 St., in Opa-locka, according to an Opa-locka Police Department officer’s arrest report.
A teacher at the daycare told police officers that Roda-Blanco was in the daycare’s lobby when she learned that her children’s hair had to be checked for lice, according to police.
Roda-Blanco allegedly argued and shouted insults before surveillance video shows she “approached” the daycare’s assistant director, “slapped her on the left side of her” head, and continued arguing before leaving, according to police.
The victim filed a police report, and at 1:15 p.m., on Wednesday, Opa-locka police officers arrested Roda-Blanco during a traffic stop at Sinbad Avenue and Ali Baba Avenue, according to the police arrest report.
Miami-Dade corrections booked Roda-Blanco, accused of driving without a license, shortly before 5:25 p.m. on Wednesday at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, according to inmate records.
On Thursday, in court, Glazer ordered Roda-Blanco to stay away from the daycare employee and set her bond at $2,500. Court records showed Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Carmen Cabarga was set to preside over the case.
Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Mercedes Cevallos contributed to this report.
Bond court appearance
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
