A Texas woman accused of attempting to drown a three-year-old Muslim child in a swimming pool was rearrested last week and her bond increased to US$1 million.
Police first arrested 42-year-old Elizabeth Wolf on May 19 after witnesses accused the woman of making verbal racial attacks toward a young Muslim family swimming in an apartment complex pool in Euless, a suburb of Dallas.
In a May news release, when the incident first took place, local authorities said witnesses claimed Wolf was “very intoxicated” when she began an argument with a mother and her two children, a six-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl, at the swimming pool.
The family is Palestinian-American, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The mother, who along with her children has not been named publicly, told police Wolf pulled the boy and girl into the deep end of the pool after a racist confrontation. As Wolf allegedly attempted to drown the children, the mother said she jumped into the pool as well.
The six-year-old boy was reportedly able to escape, but Wolf allegedly continued to hold the three-year-old girl under the water.
According to the CAIR, Wolf also “snatched off the mother’s head scarf and used it to beat the mother” while kicking her away and holding the young girl underwater.
Police wrote in their report that the mother was able to free the young girl, but she “had been yelling for help and was coughing up water.”
Authorities arrived at the scene and arrested Wolf on suspicion of public intoxication. She was cuffed and brought to the station while witness statements were collected.
Euless Police Capt. Brenda Alvarado told CNN the incident is now being investigated as a hate crime. Wolf has been charged with attempted capital murder of a person under 10 years old and injury to a child. She was rearrested after a bond hearing on June 27 when a judge declared her earlier US$40,000 bond to be insufficient. Initially, Wolf bailed herself out of jail one day after her first arrest.
In a statement to the CAIR last month, the mother said her children were “traumatized” by the alleged attack.
“We are American citizens, originally from Palestine, and I don’t know where to go to feel safe with my kids,” she said. “My country is facing a war, and we are facing that hate here. My daughter is traumatized; whenever I open the apartment door, she runs away and hides, telling me she is afraid the lady will come and immerse her head in the water again.”
The mother said her husband’s employment “is jeopardized” since he now must leave work to accompany his family members to appointments and on errands.
On Monday, the CAIR “welcomed” the decision to rearrest Wolf.
“The affected family and the American Muslim community are temporarily relieved to know the alleged perpetrator is in custody again,” said CAIR-Austin’s operations manager, Shaimaa Zayan. “We thank local and the federal law enforcement for the rearrest and the progress in the case investigation.”
In an earlier statement from June, Zayan said the incident is “a new level of bigotry” and called for police to investigate the occurrence as a hate crime.
“We are seeing a new level of bigotry here where a person deeply believes they get to decide, based on religion, spoken language, and country of origin, whose kids deserve to stay alive and whose don’t,” Zayan said.
As of Wednesday, jail records show Wolf is still in police custody at the Lon Evans Corrections Center. The investigation is ongoing.
Wolf’s next court date is scheduled for Oct. 17.
The CAIR has since established a GoFundMe for the family and said donations will be used “to pay bills, cover their basic needs, get a long-term mental health support, and reduce their daily stress as they navigate the trauma.”
As of Wednesday, over US$16,800 has been raised.