Haley Zager Florida woman charged w/ felony child abuse after slapping 11 year old black child and using racial slurs after collision at Boomers amusement park in Boca Raton.
A white woman is facing felony child abuse charges after allegedly slapping an 11-year-old black boy and calling him a racist slur after his go-kart bumped hers at a Florida amusement park.
Haley Zager, 30, and the un-named boy were driving go-karts at the Boomers amusement park in Boca Raton Saturday night when they accidentally collided.
Zager allegedly confronted the boy after the ride and, in the presence of three Boomers employees, slapped him in the face, using a racist slur to justify the strike to bystanders.
A search of her persons led to responding Boca Raton police officers finding a metal Altoids tin full of various pills in her underwear.
Zager was charged with second-degree child abuse and four counts of drug possession for the prescription pills.
Court records say Zager admitted to officers that she struck the child, who had a swollen eye, but denied using the slur.
The woman told cops she had stopped at the end of the race when another cart rear-ended her ‘at full speed’.
Zager claimed she went to the child’s cart and when he didn’t apologize, she ‘tapped’ him in the face.
She told police that she should not have hit the child, according to the Sun Sentinel.
The police reports add, however, that after she slapped the boy, she told an employee ‘that f****** n**** hit me in the back’.
Another boy, also 11, who witnessed the incident said he saw Zager get out of her own cart, slap the boy with an open palm and tell a bystander ‘the n***** hit me. The n***** hit me’.
The boy’s father told police that his son had crashed into the woman because another cart had rammed into a line of them, starting off a chain of collisions.
Previous battery charges were dropped
The boy told police that he did not remember if Zager used a racial slur while talking to him. The boy stated he didn’t remember what she said as he was still processing that she had slapped him.
Police say the boy’s left cheek was swollen and Boca Raton Fire-Rescue paramedics gave him an ice pack.
Circuit Judge Ted Booras released Zager on her own recognizance Monday, adding that she must be supervised.
According to the Sun Sentinel, Zager previously faced felony charges in Palm Beach County for an aggravated domestic battery case in 2018 but prosecutors did not pursue the charges.
Boomers has invited the young victim back for a free day in the park following the incident.
‘At Boomers parks, we value being a family fun center inclusive to guests of all backgrounds. We are saddened that one of our guests did not possess these same values and we do not condone physical or verbal abuse amongst guests,’ the park said in a statement to the Palm Beach Post.
‘We are appreciative of our staff and the police and fire rescue officers who acted swiftly to diffuse the situation.’
