SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. – A mother in Florida was arrested last month after police accused her of sabotaging a child's birthday party by smearing human feces on picnic tables and benches at a park pavilion.
Heather Carpenter was a substitute teacher at Phillippi Shores Elementary School in Sarasota, where her own child attended, WFLA reports.
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On the morning of December 1, police received a call about a woman wearing a face mask and gloves smearing feces at a park pavilion. The witness said he initially thought the woman was with park maintenance.
“Once I got over here, I could smell it instantly and I knew she was vandalizing it,” witness Michael Hutchinson told WFLA. “She would pour it out of a cup and then just would wipe it on the table, and it was like a mixture of urine and feces."
Police began their investigation by speaking to Dr. Allison Foster, who had reserved the pavilion for a girl's birthday party later that day, WWSB reports. Foster is the principal of Phillippi Shores. She told police she had invited all of the children in her child's class, including Carpenter's child, to the party.
Foster also explained that she had an ongoing dispute with Carpenter over a complaint that the substitute teacher felt was not being properly addressed.
Detectives said they confronted Carpenter at her residence a week later, where she admitted to smearing fecal matter at the pavilion in order to sabotage the party.
Sarasota County had to replace the tables and grills, as well as refund the cost to rent the pavilion, according to WWSB. The total cost of the damage was $2,310.
Carpenter was arrested on December 7 and charged with third degree felony criminal mischief.