Grandma spends night in jail
May 5, 2010
A 73-year-old Florida woman said she spent 24 hours in jail for slapping her 18-year-old granddaughter for swearing.

Theresa Collier, 73, said her granddaughter, Felicia Collier, 18, came over to her Largo home April 27 to use her computer for homework but she refused to complete her assignments.

Collier said the teenager was kicked out of Catholic school in Massachusetts and is completing her senior year online.

"She kept repeating the F-word to me, about the whole family. She just went on and on and I just got so upset, I got up and slapped her across the face," Collier said. "She grabbed my wrists and I couldn't get out of it and she let one go and she punched me in the cheek here."

Felicia Collier called police and officers arrested the grandmother when they arrived, despite the teenager's protests that she did not want Collier arrested. She spent about 24 hours in the Pinellas County Jail

Largo police officials said there is a mandatory arrest policy for domestic battery cases.

"If an officer on scene finds probable cause to arrest a person, because they've committed domestic battery, then our policy is a mandatory arrest of that person," Lt. Mike Loux said. "The discretion does not come because the victim does not want to prosecute."

The State Attorney's Office dismissed the case against Collier after reviewing her arrest report saying it simply wasn't practical to prosecute.

Posted by jc at 11:55 PM