Mother arrested after pepper spray attack
Police: Woman’s 1-year-old son, baby’s father and man’s wife treated by paramedics
TEXARKANA, Texas — A woman was arrested last week for allegedly pepper spraying the father of her 1-year-old son, the child himself and the father’s wife as they sat in a parked car watching a youth football practice, according to records.
Branda Danielle Hope, 32, allegedly walked up to the parked Chevrolet Tahoe where the father of her child was sitting with his wife with the 1-year-old in a car seat in the back Sept. 15, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Hope allegedly doused the couple with pepper spray before attempting to get in the back seat and take the child, the affidavit states.
Despite the effects of the pepper spray, the father and his wife were allegedly able to prevent Hope from taking the baby as she demanded they give her the child. Hope allegedly left as a crowd gathered.
The father and his wife called police from a nearby convenience store where they were attempting to decontaminate themselves from the noxious fumes. A Texarkana, Texas, police officer noted the obvious physical distress caused to the father and his wife and to the young child, who also suffered the effects of the pepper spray.
The officer called paramedics to assist in the decontamination and the paramedic advised the baby should be treated at a hospital. The baby’s face was “red and swollen,” according to the affidavit.
The 1-year-old had allegedly been recently placed in his father’s custody by Child Protective Services.
Officers went to Hope’s home on Tulip Drive in Texarkana, Texas, to arrest her for the alleged attack. Three of five children who were in the home were released to the custody of their father while two remained in the home with a grandmother, according to the affidavit.
Hope has been charged with two counts of assault and with injury to a child. Her bonds on the charges total $17,500 and she remains in the Bowie County jail.
Court records show Hope is serving a 12-month term of misdemeanor probation for theft of services following a guilty plea in February.