Haley Zager, a 30-year-old white Florida woman, has been arrested after she allegedly slapped an 11-year-old Black boy and called him the n-word.
She was charged with child abuse, which was increased to a second-degree felony because of the racial aspect of the incident.
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The incident took place when the unnamed boy accidentally bumped the woman’s go-kart at Boomers, an entertainment center in Boca Raton.
According to The Palm Beach Post, Zager told police that she was stopped at the end of the race when another go-kart rear-ended her “at full speed.” She said that the child driving the car “would not apologize.”
Zager then said that she “tapped” the boy in the face. The woman reportedly admitted to police that she “shouldn’t have hit a child.”
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Another youngster who witnessed the incident said that a car rammed into a row of carts, which caused a “chain-reaction” that sent the boy’s vehicle crashing into Zager’s cart. After the crash, the witness said, Zager stepped out of her car, slapped the boy with an open hand, then told a bystander, “the ni**er hit me.”
An employee of the entertainment hub corroborated the report, claiming Zager said, “that ni**er hit me in the back.”
According to police, the boy — whose family had been invited to Boomers for a free day — was treated with an ice pack after he was seen to have swelling on his left cheek.
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Police arrested Zager for child abuse and had a female officer search her, the report says. The officer found a metal Altoids tin full of various pills stuffed in her underwear and charged her with four counts of drug possession for the prescription pills.
Zager was allowed to leave jail on her own recognizance.
In 2018, Zager was arrested for domestic violence. Charges against her were dropped in that case.
“We value being a family fun center inclusive to guests of all backgrounds,” Boomers officials said in a statement. “We are saddened that one of our guests did not possess these same values, and we do not condone physical or verbal abuse amongst guests.” The park expressed appreciation for the police and fire department, who staffers say “acted swiftly to defuse the situation.”
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