A day care operator is set to be arraigned today for allegedly attempting to run over members of a nearby church during an argument over parking spaces.
Linda Valentin, 46, of Natick, is scheduled to appear in West Roxbury District Court today for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery, according to the Suffolk district attorney’s office.
Police responded to 61 Rockwood St. in Jamaica Plain at about 1 p.m. May 6 to investigate the incident.
The victims told officers that they were helping to direct traffic in a parking lot when Valentin drove toward them at a high rate of speed and only missed because they jumped out of the way, according to a police report.
They said she exited the car, screamed at them and pushed a clergyman, authorities said.
“The suspect also threatened the parish priest, stating to him that ‘you are going to be sorry.’ This was taken as a threat and he is also afraid this suspect may attack him if she sees him,” police said in their report.
The police report indicates that Valentin became incensed that the church was holding its Mother’s Day celebration on the same day of her day care’s open house. She told one witness that she was mad that her potential customers and clients could not park in the lot.
Her day care is in the same building as Our Lady of the Cedars of Lebanon church.
Church officials told officers that they were holding their Mother’s Day celebration and that the parking lot was closed.
Officers noted in their report that there were three cars blocking the entrance to the parking lot and that there were children playing in the lot.
