Woman nabbed after scuffle with boy in wheelchair

[August 20, 2009]  DALLAS (AP) -- Authorities said a 23-year-old woman was arrested after a scuffle with a 13-year-old boy in a wheelchair at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. The woman was charged with injury to a child in connection with the struggle over a soccer ball on Tuesday night.

The boy's uncle told police that he was trying to retrieve the ball, which he had purchased for the boy, from a bush on hospital grounds. The woman and her sister were also trying to get the ball.

The Dallas Morning News reported the boy had a pre-surgical medical halo screwed into his skull.

Police said that, when the uncle handed the ball to the boy, the woman's sister tried to get it from his lap but was blocked by the uncle. The woman tried to grab the ball, swinging her fist twice toward the boy. It was unclear whether she was swinging at the boy or trying to knock the ball out.

A second swing struck the boy's halo, causing him pain, according to the police report. The woman was being held in the county jail on $1,500 bond Wednesday afternoon.

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Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com/

[Associated Press]

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