MARION COUNTY, Fla. — An 81-year-old Ocala woman was arrested last week for allegedly pepper-spraying her neighbors, including two young girls, ages three and six. The unusual incident reportedly started because of children playing with bubbles.
Ada Anderson is now facing several charges of battery. Her neighbor, April Morant, said her daughters were playing in their yard when Anderson allegedly started yelling and then sprayed them.
“Bubbles,” Morant said. “Literally. The bubbles put her in a whole other arena.”
Morant thought Anderson had a gun at first.
“I didn’t know what was in her hand... and then she sprayed it,” Morant explained. Police believe it was pepper spray. Morant’s six-year-old felt her “nose went to burning.”
This wasn’t the first problem between the neighbors. Morant said Anderson has used insults and racial slurs against them since they moved in. “Since day one. I have recordings of her,” Morant stated. Another neighbor, Gary Webber, said both sides have caused problems, with the Morant family also harassing Anderson.
Channel 9 Eyewitness News tried to talk to Anderson for her side of the story, but got no response.
Anderson has been released from jail on bond. Morant wishes the charges were more serious, especially because of the children and the alleged hate crime aspect. She said, “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.”
Morant now feels unsafe and is planning to get a restraining order against Anderson. She’s also raising money online to move her family, saying, “I just don’t feel safe, and I don’t feel like the police are taking this seriously, so I would like them to take it.”
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