Reports of a disturbance that caused the lockdown of a Fort Lauderdale school has resulted in the arrest of a 38-year-old woman.
Tatyana Pitulan is accused of interfering with administrators at the Bethany Christian School at 615 S.E. Ninth Street, when she blocked the school's pickup lane with her Toyota Rav4 during dismissal.
According to the arrest report, she claimed her Rav4 was "inoperable" but started screaming when a police officer got in and started the vehicle.
She attacked the officer by kicking him in the crotch and struggled to resist being handcuffed. Pitulan also threatened to kill the officer and his mother, the report stated.
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The officer's body-worn camera recorded the incident on video.
She was arrested Wednesday and at her first court appearance Thursday, Broward assistant state attorney Eric Linder said this was not the first disruption at the school.
“I have great concerns about Mrs. Pitulan’s mental health,” he said. “This is apparently not the first time she has created a disturbance at this school.”
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Linder added that she was given an involuntary psychological evaluation in March.
Court records show she went through a divorce in January about a week before her birthday.
Pitulan is facing charges that include disorderly conduct with fighting and corrupting public moral decency, interfering with school functions, obstructing traffic, making threats, and resisting arrest, records show.
She was released from the Broward County Jail on bonds totaling $5,000. The judge also ordered a mental health screening and told Pitulan to stay away from the school.
