Share and Follow
A lice examination at a Florida daycare spiraled out of control when a mother allegedly struck an employee. This incident unfolded during a routine check at Rosalphanie Child Care 1 in Opa-locka, involving a 39-year-old mother, Maria Roda-Blanco.
Roda-Blanco was taken into custody on March 11 and faced a felony charge of battery against a school worker for the altercation that took place in January. She entered a plea of not guilty, as indicated by court documents.
In a court appearance on March 12, as reported by WPLG Local 10, Roda-Blanco expressed her frustration, stating, “She messed with my child, who has autism and is 3 years old,” translated from Spanish. She further claimed, “She was the one who started it.”
The alleged victim detailed in an affidavit obtained by Oxygen that there had been “ongoing issues” with Roda-Blanco. According to the affidavit, on January 21, a teacher confronted Roda-Blanco in the daycare lobby after being notified that her children had lice. It was noted that staff needed to inspect the children’s hair before they could enter the facility.
On Jan. 21, a teacher intercepted Roda-Blanco and her children in the lobby of the daycare, per the affidavit, having been previously made aware that the kids had lice. As a precaution, read the affidavit, the staff was to inspect the children’s hair before allowing them entry.
That’s when a verbal argument over the protocol broke out between Roda-Blanco and a staff member, read the affidavit. Roda-Blanco allegedly called the employee “offensive names,” according to the affidavit, and at one point, reached for the employee’s phone. At the time, read the affidavit, Roda-Blanco was talking on speaker phone to a person on the other end, during an active call on the victim’s device.
When the employee moved her phone away, per the affidavit, the situation escalated and Roda-Blanco allegedly slapped her on the left side of her neck and head. A witness stood in between the women to neutralize the situation, per the affidavit, and Roda-Blanco left with her children.
The incident was recorded on surveillance video, as noted in the affidavit, and showed the victim moving back from Roda-Blanco after the alleged slap.
Roda-Blanco is being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $2,500 bond.
During her March 12 court appearance, a judge ordered Roda-Blanco to stay at least 500 feet from the victim and her place of work.
An attorney for Roda-Blanco declined to comment when asked by Oxygen, while a spokesperson for Rosalphanie Child Care was not immediately available for comment.