Florida high school mom arrested for allegedly joining daughter's bus stop fistfight in video
A bus stop faceoff between two high school students in Florida took an unexpected turn when the mother of one of the students allegedly decided to join the fray.
According to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, deputies were called to a bus stop in Daytona North, Florida, Aug. 15, after friendship fallout from the summer months spilled over to the school year.
At the bus stop, two teenage girls hopped off the bus and mutually agreed to fight each other, deputies said.
The fight, which was captured on video and shared by the sheriff's office, showed the moment when the fight took an unexpected turn when one of the mothers got involved.
In the video, 34-year-old Kathryn Stephanopoulos jumps into the fracas and at one point had a child in a headlock.
"Yo, not the mom!" one student is heard saying in the video.
During the scuffle, police said, Stephanopoulos' daughter started a second fight with another child who attempted to break up the fistfight.
Once that fight was over, the juvenile began arguing with Stephanopoulos and then swung a metal cup, hitting the woman in the face.
"Did she just hit her with a Stanley cup?" a student asked in the cellphone video.
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"Yes, she did," another student replied.
"That's crazy!" the first student said.
On Monday, Stephanopoulos was arrested and transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility for her role in the fight, police said. One juvenile was arrested for aggravated battery, while misdemeanor charges against the other juvenile were forwarded to the state attorney’s office.
"Instead of deescalating the situation, we have a mother who joined in the fray, setting a bad example for her child and those at the bus stop," Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said. "She certainly won’t receive mother of the year with her actions.
"Parents need to set the example and not be part of the problem," he said. "Luckily, no one was seriously injured, but now a mother is facing serious charges for losing control of her temper."