81-year-old arrested, accused of pepper-spraying kids in Florida

By Hayley Crombleholme

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    OCALA, Florida (WESH) — An 81-year-old Ocala woman was arrested last week. She is accused of pepper-spraying her neighbors, who included 3-year-old and 6-year-old little girls.

Ada Anderson is now facing multiple counts of battery, second or subsequent offense. The woman’s neighbor, who says she was pepper-sprayed along with her kids, said the alleged incident started over something small.

“Bubbles,” said April Morant. “Literally. The bubbles put her in a whole other arena whatever going on with her mind.”

Morant says her daughters were playing with bubbles in their yard, well away from the fence that separates their properties, when she alleges Anderson shouted a racial slur and leaned over the fence holding something.

“What went through my head is I thought she had a gun,” Morant said. “So I literally kind of jumped, it startled me ’cause when she was to the fence, she was over the fence like this, and I didn’t know what was in her hand, cause I’m looking at her really quick, and then she sprayed it.”

According to the police report, they believe it was pepper spray.

“My 6-year-old, she was like her nose went to burning, she ran into the house to get a bottle of water,” Morant said.

Morant says she has had problems with Anderson since she moved with her family to the neighborhood in November.

“I feel like she’s escalating,” she said.

She says Anderson on multiple occasions has hurled insults and racial slurs at them.

“Since day one. Since day one. I have recordings of her,” she said. She shared one of those videos with WESH, in which someone can be heard using a racial slur.

WESH tried getting in touch with Anderson to see what she had to say. Going to her home and trying to reach her by phone. Receiving no response by late Tuesday night.

But Anderson seemed to try to defend herself in body camera video from her arrest. She can be heard saying to a deputy, “You really don’t have any right doing this. When do I get the pictures back that I can show you what they’re doing?”

According to jail records, Anderson was released on bond. Facing several counts of battery, second or subsequent offense. Morant thought there would be more.

“Just Battery but nothing on the kids or maybe a hate crime because you were saying all this stuff while you were spraying this stuff,” she said.

She says she’s worried it won’t stop there.

“For you to do the bear spray stuff, like I feel like I don’t know what you have in that house. I don’t know. I don’t want to be by her,” Morant said. She now says she’s planning to try to get a restraining order, and she’s raising money to try to move.

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