KETTERING — New 911 calls obtained by News Center 7 provide more details on what may have led a parent to attack three KinderCare teachers, prompting the day care to close for two days.
“We told her the baby couldn’t come back, because she had pink eye,” a worker told 911 dispatchers. “We told her she couldn’t come back, because that’s the law.”
Officers went to the KinderCare on Ebert Avenue around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday after getting the 911 calls for help.
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Kettering Police said Tozene Jackson, 30, of West Carrollton, was arrested by officers after they stopped her SUV on Alex-Bell Road, not far from the daycare.
“Initially what we think is the parent came in, a verbal altercation began and then it kind of escalated to some physical assaults,” said Kettering Officer Tyler Johnson. “It’s pretty unusual to have this type of altercation with parents and teachers in any kind of setting.”
Jackson is charged with three counts of assault, one count of child endangering and one count of criminal damaging.
“There’s glass all over my front office right now, because she shattered all of the glass pictures. My laptop is probably broke,” another worker told 911 dispatchers. “She just broke everything in my office.”
A delivery driver told 911 dispatchers the woman, later identified as Jackson, “threw the baby in the car” and drove off.
“The baby’s not even strapped in, and she’s getting in the car and leaving,” the delivery driver said.
News Center 7 dug into Jackson’s history in the court system and found in 2017 she was accused of lying about her vehicle being stolen with her child inside.
She was indicted for making false alarms, but settled the case with intervention in lieu of conviction. Her attorney had made the request, saying Jackson suffered with mental illness and that her behavior was partially due to the use of drugs and/or alcohol, court records show.
Tuesday’s incident prompted KinderCare leaders to close the daycare for the remainder of the day and through Wednesday.
“The management team at our Ebert center is focused on ensuring teachers and children feel safe and supported after this morning’s incident,” a spokesperson for KinderCare said Tuesday. “We’re going to close our center...so that our teachers have time to seek additional support.”
KinderCare will reopen the Ebert Avenue location on Thursday.