Published: Tuesday, Jul. 21, 2009

Updated: Tuesday, Jul. 21, 2009

Angry woman drives car into van; two hurt

MANATEE — A woman who got into a fight with a relative this past weekend allegedly drove a rental car into a van that, in turn, struck two relatives, including a child in a high-chair.

Veronica Bolyard, 26, of Bradenton, was behind bars Monday on charges including aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, criminal mischief and child neglect.

A Manatee County Sheriff’s Office report states that Bolyard night got into a fight Sunday night with a female relative, pulled her hair, and then struck her as they stood in the front yard of a duplex in the 1100 block of 62nd Avenue East.

After the fight, she got into a rental car and backed out of the driveway of the home, the report states. As the car got to the street, she put it back into drive, then accelerated into a van that was parked in the driveway.

The van was parked about eight feet from the front door of the duplex. When she struck the van, it hit her female relative, who was sitting in a chair near the front door. The van also struck a child who was in a high-chair next to that relative, according to the report.

Both victims, who were not seriously injured, were checked by Emergency Medical Service responders at the scene, the report states.

During an interview with a deputy, Bolyard reportedly cried and said, “I’ll be honest with you, I did it on purpose,” a report states.

In addition to that arrest Sunday, Bolyard was also arrested on an outstanding child neglect warrant.

Court papers show that on April 30, detectives said her three children, ages 3, 5 and 6, were playing unsupervised in the road in the 800 block of U.S. 301 Boulevard.

The children wandered into a water-filled ditch where detectives discovered them. They were all dirty and the 6-year-old, who was covered in some sort of rash, had fallen and was crying, according to the warrant. When detectives found the children, no one had reported them missing.

When detectives went to Bolyard’s home to question her, she told them she had just gotten home, and that she let the children go to a friend’s house unsupervised, the warrant states. She said she thought it was OK for the 6-year-old boy to watch his younger siblings, the report states. She also said she lets her children walk around outside her home unsupervised at times, the report said. As of Monday afternoon, Bolyard was at the Manatee County jail on $43,000 bond.