| Mother Accused of Attacking Md. School Bus Driver By Ann E. Marimow Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, June 3, 2005; 4:03 PM An ice pick-wielding mother, apparently upset about her daughter's seat assignment, disrupted a Charles County school bus carrying about 20 students Thursday morning. The trouble began Wednesday afternoon, according to the school district, when a Westlake High School bus driver tried to move a student to the front of the bus because of rowdy behavior. When the girl refused, she was taken to the office by a school administrator to call her mother for a ride home. The next morning, the girl's mother, Arlene Watson Phillips, confronted the driver at a stop in Waldorf. She unfolded a lawn chair and sat in front of the bus, according to school district spokeswoman Katie O'Malley Simpson. According to a report filed by a Charles County Sheriff's officer who responded to the scene: Phillips boarded the bus just before 7 a.m. and began cursing and spitting at the driver in front of at least 20 students. The driver ushered Phillips off the bus and closed the doors. Outside the bus, Phillips pulled out an ice pick with a blue handle from her purse, then climbed on the hood of the bus to prevent it from driving away. The driver called school officials, who called the police. Sheriff's officers arrested Phillips and charged her with second-degree assault, malicious destruction of property, carrying a concealed and deadly weapon, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace and false imprisonment. Phillips did not return a call for comment. She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on June 13 in Charles County Criminal District Court. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/03/AR2005060301092_pf .html |