Video captures outburst near Horizon West Middle

A Horizon West Middle School mother is shaken after she and her two daughters were verbally attacked after parking along an alley in the Ashlin Park neighborhood Wednesday, Aug. 21. 

Diana Romero said she had parked her Range Rover in a neighborhood alley near Horizon West Middle School to drop off her oldest daughter Wednesday morning when a woman who lived nearby approached her and demanded she leave.

A video of the incident was taken by a friend of Romero's daughter and is shown below. Be advised that the video contains vulgar language.

Romero, who also lives in Ashlin Park, said the woman yelled at both her and her daughter. Her younger daughter, who is preschool age, was also in the backseat of her car during the incident.

"I understand if you feel mad with that situation — she could tell me, 'Hey, please, no parking here. I don't like it. It's my property,' but she was really disrespectful," Romero said. "She's screaming at me. ... I'm with my baby and I can do nothing. She said a lot of bad words in front of my daughters, and I feel really offended about that."

Romero said she has been forced to drop off her daughter within Ashlin Park because of the long line of cars that accumulates before the beginning of the school day at Horizon West Middle. She added the line can sometimes take an hour to go through, and it prevents her from dropping off her younger daughter at preschool.

Her family only lives a couple of blocks away, but Romero said her daughter likes to be dropped off closer so she doesn’t have to walk as far.

Romero said she called police shortly after the incident, but officers confirmed she was not allowed to park along the alley.

“I’m frustrated, because the police (should) talk with (the woman),” Romero said. “That behavior is really bad for the kids. Because she didn’t touch me, it’s not assault, but she told me a lot of words that were really disrespectful.”

The video doesn't capture the entire incident, Romero said.

"She said 'You are a [expletive] immigrant; get (off) of my property,'" said Romero, who added her family is from Colombia. “The video doesn’t let you see all of the situation. … I don’t know what to say.”  

Romero said her daughter likely will have to walk to school moving forward and that she isn’t sure how the school will be able to deal with the long line of cars moving forward.

A more in-depth story on Horizon West Middle School's traffic situation is scheduled for publication in the Thursday, Aug. 29, edition.