Police Seek Woman Who Assaulted Mom, Toddler For 'No Reason'

FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - A Fort Worth woman says she and her toddler were nearly run over, then sprayed with pepper spray, and she has no idea why.

The assault happened in front of witnesses in a neighborhood off Crowley Road in early April. There was no lasting damage, but Diamond Alvarez says her 3-year-old son Leo has some lingering fear from the attack that happened in their neighborhood last month.

They were walking past a home, when a woman who had recently moved out, quickly pulled into the driveway.

"I didn't say anything, I didn't give a dirty look," she said. "And I told him 'wait, wait, ok we can go.' And she immediately started just yelling."

Alvarez identified the woman yelling, as Maria Russell, who Fort Worth police confirmed has two arrest warrants out for assault charges.

Alvarez said Russell threw a soda can at her, then got back in the car, and hit the gas.

"She actually turned her vehicle and gassed it toward my son, and hit his 4-wheeler, and then I jumped in front of the vehicle, in between her and my son, and I put my hand out, and she gassed it four more times," she said.

That's when Alvarez said Russell got out, and sprayed pepper spray directly at her and her son, before driving off.

"This involves a child, an innocent child who wasn't being rude or provoking her," she said.

The assault charges against the 56-year-old Russell include intentional bodily injury to a child.