Mom ran over girl, threatened kids at park after believing her own kids were being bullied, police say

PEORIA, Ariz. (KPHO/Gray News) – A mother in Arizona is accused of running over a girl at a park and threatening other children after she believed her own children were being bullied, police said.

According to court documents, 30-year-old Brandie Gotch is facing multiple charges, including attempted first-degree murder.

Police said the situation happened Tuesday afternoon at WestGreen Park in Peoria.

According to court documents, Gotch drove to the park around 4 p.m. in her white Chevy Silverado. She walked over to a group of kids and started a shouting match between them.

Police said Gotch grabbed a 14-year-old boy by the hair and pulled his head back and forth and side to side while yelling at him. Court paperwork said she then grabbed a sharp stick from her truck and ran after the boy, yelling, “I am going to kill you and run you over!”

Gotch allegedly then got into her truck, with her four kids inside, and sped toward a group of 15 kids standing in the park, police said. She went through the park’s rock landscape and ran over a girl’s ankle, police said.

Gotch allegedly kept driving through the park as kids ran for their lives, police said. She then went back into the parking lot and sped away.

Part of it was caught on camera. Police said they tracked Gotch down to her home and arrested her.

During an interview with detectives, Gotch said the argument started because she saw preteens throwing wood chips at three of her kids and believed one of them had punched her 10-year-old daughter.

She told police she confronted the group, and they called her a slur, so she grabbed one boy and told him not to call her that, court records said.

Gotch admitted to getting a stick and walking toward another boy who called her a slur, but claimed she never threatened him, according to court paperwork.

Police said Gotch admitted to putting her truck “aggressively into reverse, and then in drive” before driving through the park.

Gotch said she didn’t think she ran over the girl and said, “I hope I didn’t,” according to court documents.

Gotch said her children were being bullied by the group of kids and had reported it to the school and police, but she claimed no action was taken.

Gotch was booked into jail on six counts of endangerment, four counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of attempted first-degree murder.

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