WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (WFLA) — A Winter Haven elementary school teacher was arrested Wednesday after authorities say she falsely accused another teacher of battery.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, 45-year-old Juanita McCoy, a teacher at Lake Shipp Elementary School, reached out on Oct. 19 to report that she had been “shoulder-checked” by Latonya Miller, another teacher at the school and a former friend.
During an investigation, McCoy stopped cooperating with deputies and declined to provide any more information.
Deputies said that while interviewing Miller, she denied making contact with McCoy, stating that the two women were on a walkway walking toward each other when McCoy partially blocked the path, forcing Miller to walk around.
Surveillance video of the incident showed that no contact was made, corroborating Miller’s account of the event.
Deputies said that Miller informed them that this was the second time such an incident had occurred.
Miller told deputies that McCoy had made another accusation to the PCSO in Feb. 2020 saying that she had intentionally bumped her at school. That investigation was closed with no charges filed after both women signed waivers of prosecution
“The people who work in our schools are entrusted with the care of our children. Not only do they provide education, but they’re also role models who have an impact on their students’ ethics and behavior. Accusing an innocent person of a crime is a serious matter, and a waste of law enforcement resources,” said Sheriff Grady Judd.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested McCoy and charged her with false report of a crime to law enforcement.
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