Woman who hit Latina teen faces hate-crime charge
DES MOINES, Iowa – A Des Moines woman was charged Sunday with a hate crime after she allegedly hit a teen with her SUV because, police said she later told them, the girl was ‘Mexican.’”
West Des Moines police announced the new charge against Nicole Poole Franklin, 42, hours after the League of United Latin American Citizens national president issued a statement that called for hate crime charges to be filed in the assault on Natalia Miranda, 14. The Council on American-Islamic Relations on Friday also issued a statement urging hate crime charges, calling it “an apparent racist attack in Iowa.”
Franklin faces an attempted murder charge but no hate crime charges. She is jailed with bond set at $1 million.
Miranda was struck around 4:20 p.m. on Dec. 9 as she walked to Indian Hills Junior High School in Clive. At 5:15 p.m., police arrested Franklin at a Conoco gas station in West Des Moines after receiving a report that a woman was creating a disturbance and using racial slurs.
At that time, police had not identified her as the alleged driver.
According to the police report, Franklin was seen in the Conoco placing an ice cream cone in her pocket and eating a bag of chips she had not purchased. She asked an employee for $30 worth of gas and a bottle of liquor.
The employee told police Franklin tried to take the bottle from him and began using racial and ethnic slurs against him and other customers after he questioned her about the other items.
Police said Franklin later told them she had smoked methamphetamine hours before hitting the girl.
Police charged Franklin with theft and public intoxication.