A Florida couple was taken into custody on Tuesday after allegedly assaulting a school resource deputy, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. The incident, which was captured on police bodycam footage, involved Jorge Rivera, 46, and Dagmarie Aponte Iturrino, 45, at Deltona Middle School.
The altercation reportedly arose from a dispute over a battery charge against the couple’s 11-year-old son, who had been involved in a physical altercation with a female student. The parents had come to the school to contest the civil citation issued against their son, who they believed was unfairly labeled as the “primary aggressor” in the incident.
The bodycam footage revealed a heated exchange between the parents and the school resource deputy. Rivera is seen accusing the deputy of failing the children and questioning her worth. Despite his wife’s attempts to pacify him, Rivera continued to berate the deputy, leading to a physical confrontation.
The footage shows Rivera placing his hand in the deputy’s face in a school hallway, followed by Iturrino physically confronting the officer. The situation escalated when Rivera allegedly punched the deputy, knocking her to the ground and seizing her taser. A school employee attempted to intervene, but the situation only deescalated when Deputy Julia Curtin drew her firearm and ordered Rivera to drop the taser.
Both parents were subsequently arrested and charged with resisting arrest with violence, trespassing on school property after warning, and disrupting a school function. Additional charges against Rivera included grand theft, battery on a law enforcement officer, and assault or battery on specified officials or employees.
Iturrino, who is a pre-K teacher at Spirit Elementary School in Deltona, was released on bail Tuesday night and has been suspended from her teaching position. Rivera’s bail was set at $42,000, and he appeared before a judge on Wednesday.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood expressed his outrage at the incident in a press conference, criticizing the parents for their actions and stating that the deputy had suffered a concussion. He also noted that the battery charge against the couple’s son was a civil citation, not a criminal charge, and would be handled by a judge who would review the evidence and impose appropriate sanctions.