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Background: PortMiami in Miami, Fla. (Google Maps). Inset: Paetra Grandsberry (Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation).
A Minnesota mother is facing a child abuse charge after an incident on a Florida-docked cruise ship where she allegedly tackled a teenager. The mother, identified as 38-year-old Paetra Grandsberry, was on a Carnival Cruise when the confrontation occurred.
According to authorities, Grandsberry was discussing a situation with a security officer involving a group of teens she claimed had assaulted her two sons. As she was reporting the incident, Grandsberry reportedly noticed some teens running by and believed one of them was responsible for striking her children. In a bid to confront them, she allegedly left the security guard’s side and chased down the group, ultimately pinning one of the teens by grabbing his collar.
Witnesses stated that during the altercation, Grandsberry called out to her sons, urging them to retaliate against the boy she had tackled, insisting he had been part of the attack on her children. Security personnel soon intervened, releasing the teen who then returned to his aunt’s care.
Upon her arrest and after being read her rights, Grandsberry admitted to police that she had mistakenly identified the boy as one of the assailants. She described her actions as being driven by anger and, in her words, “in the heat of the moment,” she inadvertently fell on the boy and used offensive language towards him.
After realizing her error, Grandsberry stated she ceased her actions against the boy. Following the ship’s arrival in Miami, Florida, deputies from the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office took her into custody.
The boy told police he was not injured and did not seek medical attention following the alleged attack.
Grandsberry was charged with one count of child abuse with no great bodily harm and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where she is being held on $2,500 bond.