Brawl mars Build-A-Bear day at the K
Big fight between a handful of parents near a playground at the K on Sunday. Parents threw punches, hurled racial epithets (or so one claimed), spit in each others’ faces and bled on the playground equipment. Oh, and kids got knocked over but no one seemed to bother much with that. At least the first 10,000 kids got Build-A-Bear lions.
Arrested: Parents of the year candidates Ronika L. Brooks, 33, and James T. Mela, 37. They were on opposite ends of the rumble near the jungle gym. Sadly, the KCPD doesn’t have mugshots for either, but they did have the ugly incident report. Sounds like Brooks was stomping the head of James Mela’s wife, Erin L. Mela, when police arrived on the scene.
An officer pulled Brooks away and handcuffed her. “She was very loud belligerent and using profane language such as ‘bitch and ‘mother fucker.,” the report says. All the children watching this sad education on racial harmony didn’t seem to calm her down. So he took her away.
According to Brooks: Brooks told the officer that she was walking by the playground equipment when a relative of hers heard Erin Mela say, “mother fucker.” Brooks thought Mela was talking to her relative and they confronted her. Brooks claimed Erin Mela called her relative a “nigger.” Brooks then claimed that Erin Mela took her sunglasses, and James Mela spit on her. Then the brawl erupted.
According to Erin Mela: Mela told police that she let out an “oh shit” when Brooks walked in front of her snapping a photo of her child. Then she claims Brooks attacked her and others attacked her husband. James Mela admitted spitting in Brooks’ face after getting attacked by other people.
Recuriterlicious filed a great report Sunday that garnered some interesting comments from witnesses, like this from Laura Phipps, who has made the media rounds:
What about the young girl wrapped around her crazy mother, pleading
with her to stop, as the mother keeps on throwing punches and shouting
horrid things.
The Star reports that Erin Mela is talking to an attorney. Ka-ching.
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