New Smyrna middle school parent shoves lunch lady, deputies say

Alleged incident started in school parking lot

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – A New Smyrna Beach Middle School parent was arrested Thursday after deputies said he assaulted a school lunch lady and stole her car keys in the parking lot.

The school employee told deputies she arrived at the middle school "like any other day" and as she was walking through the parking lot she saw a red SUV accelerate quickly then slam on the brakes stopping her in her tracks, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office arrest report.

The victim said Christopher Stevens, a parent of a middle school student, got out and started screaming at her. She told deputies she attempted to take photos of him with her phone because she thought he was going to attack her.

The victim said Stevens grabbed her phone and after a short struggle she was knocked back and her car keys flew out of her hands, according to the report. She went to grab them, but Stevens took them and when she asked for them back he said "F-- you" and got back into his SUV and drove away.

While the parent was berating the school employee, his son got out of the vehicle and walked into the school.

Deputies interviewed the student who said his father got mad at the victim because she "was driving crazy."

Another parent who witnesses the incident said she saw the suspect in the parking lot "slam on the brakes almost striking a female walking in the parking lot," deputies said.

"You don't drive crazy. Especially, if he says she almost hit two kids. I mean, anybody who's coming around a child should know to slow down," parent Donielle Raulerson said.

The witness told deputies she then saw Stevens get out of his SUV, go up to the woman and shove her aggressively, while yelling at her.

"Right here at the school and confronted her? No. He could have easily said, 'Hi, your driving was a little bit crazy' and said something differently," Donielle Raulerson said.

A Volusia County deputy searched the school grounds and found the victim's keys on the side of the road outside the school fence, according to the report.

Stevens told deputies that he said, "You shouldn't be driving" to the victim and threw her keys.

Stevens is charged with battery on a school board employee and grand theft. He is also permanently banned from school grounds. Stevens bonded out of the Volusia County Jail on Thursday.

The 53-year-old woman was not physically injured and is back at work. She's worked for the school district for 17 years.


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