A Florida teacher and an elementary school principal were charged late last month in connection with a house party where minors were drinking, including one who was so drunk they needed treatment, officials said.
Body camera video released this month as part of discovery in the criminal case showed the scene that led to the January arrests of then-Roosevelt Elementary School principal Elizabeth Hill-Brodigan and teacher Karly Anderson.
Police were called to Hill-Brodigan’s home in Cocoa Beach on Jan. 19 after reports of a house party. Arriving officers found around 100 juveniles there, police said at the time.
One juvenile was on the front lawn and was so intoxicated that Brevard County Fire Rescue responded to treat them, police said.
In a body camera video, an officer tells a Fire Rescue official that the boy is 17 and has been throwing up and needs to be checked out. The officer says in the video that the boy “is not responsive or anything.”
While officers were at the scene, Anderson approached and identified herself as a teacher at Roosevelt Elementary, police said.
The video shows Anderson appearing to slur her words and the officer talking to her about the party.
“There was like 200 kids here, drinking,” the officer says in the video. Anderson interrupts, saying, “I’ve already known.”
The officer tells Anderson that she is also drunk and that he can “smell it,” but she denies it, the video shows.
At one point, the officer appears frustrated with the argument and tells Anderson, “You’re here with your boss, having a party with 200 kids who are drinking! Get out of my face!”
Brevard Public Schools suspended both Anderson and Hill-Brodigan after the incident. It named an acting principal for Roosevelt Elementary and announced plans to seek a replacement for Hill-Brodigan.
Superintendent Mark Rendell in January said in a letter to parents that he was very troubled by the incident.
“We hold our leaders to the highest of standards, and if these allegations are true, it’s a complete failure in leadership and violation of our trust,” Rendell said.
Hill-Brodigan is charged with one count of child neglect, five counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one count of holding an open house party, the State Attorney’s Office for the 18th Judicial Circuit said.
Anderson is charged with one count each of disorderly conduct and disorderly intoxication, prosecutors said.
The charges were filed by the state attorney’s office on March 31, court records show. Online court records did not indicate a plea. Both women are free on bond.
Hill-Brodigan’s attorney, Kepler Funk, said his office is continuing to investigate the matter and had no comment Wednesday night.
An attorney Anderson told NBC affiliate WESH of Winter Park that Anderson had nothing to do with the party, that she and Hill-Brodigan were out to dinner when they were informed a party was happening at Hill-Brodigan’s home, and that they returned to find students clearing out.
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