Woman accused of turning pressure washer on minors

TAMPA -- A Tampa woman was jailed Wednesday after she allegedly grabbed and kicked two neighborhood boys and sprayed them with a commercial, hand-held pressure washer.

Kathleen Esther Murray, 56, was arrested on two charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. She had questioned the two boys about her home being egged, the Sheriff's Office said.

She also faces charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence after fighting with the Hillsborough sheriff's deputies who responded to the scene.

Murray had her first court appearance this morning and looked upset as Hillsborough Circuit Judge Walter Heinrich read the arrest report aloud. The judge ordered her to be held in lieu of $21,000 bail.

A prosecutor said Murray has a history of battery and alcohol arrests. In February, she finished probation for an assault charge on a different victim.

-- Colleen Jenkins, Times staff writer

Booking photo courtesy Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office

Comments

[Gcarr]

I bet she would not have had a pressure washer, had her house not been egged. The Tampa Cops probably assaulted her first.

[Dora]

Yea right, Gcarr. I'm sure that none of this is her fault at all. Poor old lady, I mean all she did was pressure wash two CHILDREN. I hope she goes to jail this time, and maybe the cops can pressure wash her everyday.

[skinnysweatyman]

"stop cursing or I'll wash your mouth out with this 75hp, super-charged, nitro sprayed, washer."

[Ms Martin]

Poor woman. Probably harrassed by these two kids constantly and couldn't take anymore and lost her temper. Tampa cops probably kicked her door in and threw her to the ground and then arrested her for resisting with violence...or maybe she's just a mean old witch...

[Unknown]

Had to be white...at least we let them pick their own switch

[Linda]

What about the women that were caught on video, doing the exact same thing to two small children at a car wash?
Never heard anything about that! And that was a disiplinary action she was doing, I guess, as a parent, to repremand them.
Thought that was in the Florida area also.
And isn't if funny, alcohol is always brought up whether it had anything to do with this certain crime or not.
Mostly when they mention the alcohol thing it's a cop that has brought this up to that person before and won't let them live it down, by basically, calling every misjudegent in their lives alcohol related.
Cops are one of the highest rates of alcoholics there are. So stick to the facts. Unless she was drunk when she did THIS act, why should it be brought up at all?

[tricia]

It just depends who you are, if and when you get arrested. These punks probably did egg her house but have CONNECTIONS.
I'd be ticked off too if I were her.
The ladies at the carwash weren't arrested...hmmm...

[cia]

I remember being a punk, egging houses etc. The difference is when we got caught, we took our punishment. We wouldn't have dared to have "Mrs McDade" arrested after we totally ticked her off, out of fear of what our parents would do to us when they found out!
NOT SO TODAY, SOMEBODY YELLS AT JR, (OR SPRAYS HIM!! lol) CALL THE COPS.

[Rodger]

CIA lol lol I agree, my folks would have sent me down to clean it off and pinned a note to my shirt saying do what ever you want to him.

if i had egged someones house when i was a kid and got caught...i'd be more scared of what my dad would have done then the cops...while the cop looked the other way standing behind my dad

Egg a house? At almost 2 bucks a dozen that is insane. Think that's natural blond hair or dyed?

[Julie]

That'll be me some day; the kids in my neighborhood drive me NUTS and some day I'm gonna crack and have at the little darlings...

[melacakiki]

I BET A MONTHS WAGES THAT THOSE LITTLE FU(C)KERS DESERVED IT. KIDS TODAY ARE COMPLETE AND TOTAL AS(S)H(O)LES. i HOPE THEY GOT A CHEMICAL IN THEIR EYES AND GO BLIND.

[Jon]

Hosing some kids with a small pressure washer (we're not talking a professional setup here, they showed it on TV and it looked like something you'd wash your car with) is not assault with a deadly weapon. It's not friendly, but it's not deadly.

[Fred]

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