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When she saw a parent drop her child off at the back gate to the Hooker School, a neighbor pulled the driver out of the car and started yelling at her, police said.
Anne Higonnet, 49, of Everit Street, was charged with disorderly conduct in the dispute Friday morning in East Rock. The conflict was the next development in an ongoing dispute centering on a back gate to the Hooker School. Neighbors wanted the gate closed so that parents wouldn’t drop their kids off there. When the school opened late last year, officials opted to keep the gate open to allow kids to walk to school. They directed parents with cars to drop their kids off at the school’s front entrance on Whitney.
Reached Friday at her home, Higonnet said the whole incident was blown out of proportion.
“It was just a misunderstanding,” she said.
Hooker School Principal Bob Rifenburg (pictured above) said the confrontation took place at about 8:45 a.m. Friday during drop-off time for the school, which serves grades 3 to 8. He was in the school building when a security guard alerted him that two women were yelling at each other at the back gate. He went down to Everit to take a look.
“I called 911 because of a verbal confrontation,” he said. “I just called and let the police handle it.”
Officer Malcolm Davis arrived at the scene. He got the story from both women involved in the fight. Here’s what happened, according to his police report:
Stephanie Brooks, who lives in Westville, drove up to the Everit Street entrance — where parents are directed not to drop off their kids by car — and dropped off one of her children.
She heard a knock on her driver’s side window. Higonnet was standing next to her car.
When Brooks refused to roll down her window, Higonnet reached for the handle and opened her door.
She grabbed Brooks by the coat, according to police. Brooks put the car in park and got out.
That’s when the argument ensued. Higonnet, who lives on Everit Street half a block from the school’s back entrance, objected to the visitor using her street as a drop-off point.
When Davis arrived, the two women stopped yelling.
Higonnet admitted she lost her temper and asked to shake hands with Brooks, according to the police report.
Brooks, who had a 5‑year-old child in the car at the time, asked Davis to press charges.
Davis did. He charged Higonnet with disorderly conduct, a Class C misdemeanor offense. That charge carries up to three months in jail and a fine of up to $500. She was not taken into police custody. She was released on a promise to appear and given a court date at the end of the month.
Principal Rifenburg said in general, he has not had much trouble with dropoff and pickup at the Everit Street Gate. He has “99 percent” compliance from parents, he said. Friday, about four parents dropped their kids off in the wrong spot, he said. Friday was the first time he noticed any trouble.
Thomas MacMillan contributed reporting.