Brandie Gotch (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office) and tire tracks left in the park where she allegedly ran over a teenage girl (KSAZ screenshot)
A 30-year-old mother of four in Arizona was arrested last week after she allegedly drove her pickup truck through a park filled with children — running one of them over — after engaging in a shouting match with the youths and threatening to kill at least one of the juveniles.
Brandi Gotch was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with one count of attempted first-degree murder, six counts of child endangerment, four counts of aggravated assault, and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to court documents obtained by Phoenix Fox affiliate KSAZ, the incident took place at about 4 p.m. on the afternoon of Tuesday, Feb. 27 at Westgreen Park near Butler Drive and 87th Avenue. Police say that Gotch confronted a group of about 15 teenagers because she believed they were bullying several of her kids and throwing wood chips at them.
After going over to the group of kids and yelling at them, Gotch allegedly “grabbed a 14-year-old victim by the hair” and began “pulling his head back and forth and side to side, while yelling at him,” police wrote in a probable cause affidavit. She then reportedly went to her white Chevy Silverado, grabbed what appeared to be a sharp stick, and chased after the boy with it while yelling, “I am going to kill you and run you over.”
Gotch was reportedly angered further when one of the teen boys in the group called her a “b—-.” That’s when the mother allegedly got behind the wheel.
“Brandie was then seen going back to her vehicle, which was now occupied by her four children, and aggressively backed her vehicle towards the exit, but instead of exiting she drove forward, at a high rate of speed, towards the playground area where at least 15 juveniles were standing,” police wrote in the affidavit.
Police said that as she “drove recklessly through the park,” Gotch ran over a teen girl’s leg before driving back into the parking lot and fleeing the scene.
According to a report from Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO, someone at the park was able to film a portion of the rampage and police were able to see her license plate, quickly identifying Gotch as the driver of the Silverado.
Investigators reportedly went to Gotch’s home at about 4:30 p.m. that day and placed her under arrest.
In an interview with detectives, Gotch allegedly admitted to driving into the park, going “around the bathrooms” and “through the park field” before driving away. When asked if she ran over any of the kids, she allegedly said she did not think she did and stated, “I hope not.”
Per the affidavit, Gotch told police that the children from the park had been bullying her kids at school. She claimed that she had reported the kids to school officials and the police, but said “nothing has been done.” She further believed that the bullying was continuing at the park.
Though Gotch assured authorities that she made sure all of her children were wearing their seat belts when she drove through the park, the claim was undercut by the kids, who told police they were not restrained and had been “bouncing all over the vehicle” during the incident.
During her first court appearance, prosecutors argued that Gotch presented a clear threat to the community and a judge took the state’s recommendation in ordering her to remain in detention in lieu of a $250,000 cash-only bond.
