LYNN, MASS. (WHDH) - A Lynn woman who came “dangerously close” to running over a group of women and children before hurling a slew of racial slurs at them during an incident outside of a bake shop in Swampscott earlier this summer faced a judge on Thursday.
Rhonda Wozniak, 60, was arraigned in Lynn District Court on charges including eight counts of civil rights violation, eight counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, disturbing the peace, and disorderly conduct, according to Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett and Swampscott Police Chief Ronald Madigan.
On the evening of July 28, three Black women who were with their five children were returning to their cars after visiting Cookie Monstah on Paradise Road when Wozniak allegedly sped toward them in her Ford Escape, nearly running them over.
When one of the women asked Wozniak to slow down, she allegedly shouted racial insults and slurs at them before telling them to “go back where they came from,” according to investigators.
“She was holding her steering wheel really tight, rolled down her window, and said, ‘I hate you Black people,'” Ebony White recalled.
Starr High added, “She sped around us and started calling us derogatory names in front of the kids…She told us ‘we need to go back to where we belong.'”
Wozniak was released on $1,000 bail. A judge ordered her to stay away from and have no contact with the victims.
“This behavior has no place in this community,” Madigan said. “This incident is particularly troubling given that children were present and were subject to vile racial slurs. I am hopeful that our response to this incident sends the message that this behavior will not be tolerated in Swampscott.”
Wozniak is due back in court for a pre-trial hearing on Oct. 19.
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