A Miami woman was slapped with felony charges for a disturbing racist attack against a Black U.S. postal worker.
Lourdes Maria Portugues was charged with two counts of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with prejudice following a racist confrontation on April 14 near her home in Little Havana, WPLG reported.
Authorities say that a Black mail carrier was working her usual route when a child approached her to collect mail for their home.
Police say 34-year-old Portugues saw the interaction and yelled at the child, “Donât talk to her, we donât talk to nârs.â
After yelling the slur, Portugues allegedly picked up a water hose and sprayed the victim with water. The mail carrier immediately dialed 911.
At that moment, Portugues retrieved her purse, got into her silver SUV, and tried to run over the mail carrier, police say.
The postal worker hid behind a parked car to avoid the collision, but Portugues allegedly put her car in reverse and tried to ram into her again.
When Portugues sped past the victim again, police said she made a U-turn at the end of the block, then accelerated toward the mail carrier once again, causing âseveral witnesses and the victim allâ to run âtoward the sidewalk, away from the defendantâs vehicle to avoid being struck,â an arrest affidavit states.
Home surveillance video shows the SUV speeding down the road after backing out of a driveway.
Portugues then parked her car in front of her home and yelled at the victim, “I’m going to shoot you, I have a gun inside my house.”
Portuguese’s child told officers that she went inside her bedroom and started loading bullets in a gun. Officers found a pellet gun as well as rounds for the gun inside Portugues’s room.
Jail records show the 34-year-old mother was booked into jail hours after the incident.
