Ocala mother arrested over visitor pass after heated confrontation with middle school receptionist, officials say
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MARION COUNTY, Fla. – According to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, an Ocala woman was arrested after she allegedly shoved her guest pass in a middle school receptionist’s face and threw a crumpled piece of paper at her during an argument.
Dawn Shepherd, 46, was arrested and charged with assault on a public education employee following the incident that occurred Wednesday at Liberty Middle School in Ocala.
According to an affidavit, a deputy working as a school resource officer was told that someone, later identified as Shepherd, had abused the receptionist. Shepherd was at the school because two of her sons go there, and she had a meeting with administrators about her educational plans.
Once they left school, however, things reportedly got hairy.
The school’s surveillance camera captured Shepherd and her husband leaving the front office to turn in their visitor badges and check out, the affidavit said. The receptionist placed the sign-in and sign-out protocol on the desk for the parents to sign, but at that moment Shepherd apparently walked over to her desk and threw her guest pass at the receptionist.
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Photo: Marion County Sheriff’s Office
“This is not how you give someone an ID,” the receptionist told Shepherd before he handed the ID back to her, according to the affidavit.
About a minute later, Shepherd walked around the desk and approached the receptionist, guest pass in hand. She allegedly pushed the ID card into the receptionist’s face, with her right hand “obviously” touching the woman’s face, the affidavit states.
According to the report, Shepherd’s husband was seen laughing as the incident continued to unfold.
Shepherd was then seen crumpling up a piece of paper and throwing it to the receptionist. The two reportedly exchanged words before Shepherd walked around the desk again to get the woman to stand up and approach her, the affidavit states. The receptionist didn’t bite.
Shepherd and her husband remained in the lobby for another 14 minutes, surveillance video showed.
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She was arrested later that day and taken to the Marion County Jail on $2,000 bail. She has since been released.
FOX 35 News has requested a copy of the surveillance footage as well as comment from Marion County Public Schools on the incident.
