Community Corner

3rd Mom Charged with Truancy, Disorderly Conduct for Separate Incident

After her elementary school student missed over 50 days of school, a third Racine Unified parent is charged with truancy. She also faces a disorderly conduct charge because she got into a shouting match with neighbors.

A third Racine Unified parent has been charged with multiple counts of truancy because her child missed 52 days of school during the 2012-2013 school year.

Andrea Martinez was charged Thursday in Racine County Circuit Court with nine counts of fail/cause a child to attend school. Each charge includes five or six days her third grader failed to attend Jerstad Agerholm Elementary School, 3535 LaSalle Street. If convicted, Martinez faces up to 90 days in jail for each charge and/or a total of $9,000 in fines.

Martinez is the third Unified mother charged this month because of the extreme truancy of their children. Jane Belasic was charged June 6 because her child missed 88 days of school, and Quadricka Jackson was charged June 17 after her student missed 90 days of school.

After Jackson was charged, RUSD spokesperson Stacy Tapp said just because the situation is referred to the Racine County District Attorney as required by state statute, that doesn't mean the district just throws up their hands.

"We are still here to help so this child gets the education they need," she said. "But it's up to the DA on how to proceed with the case."

The truancy charges against Martinez were originally brought forth on April 26, but she did not attend her first initial appearance, so an $1,800 warrant was issued for her arrest. She was taken into custody Thursday and then assigned a $500 signature bond. Martinez's next court date is her pre-trial conference on July 25.

Martinez's legal troubles extend beyond truancy issues with her 9-year-old, though. She was also charged Thursday with a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct after police say she got into a shouting match with neighbors and wouldn't calm down despite officers warning her that they would arrest her if she didn't calm down.

If convicted of the disorderly conduct charge, Martinez could face up to 90 days in jail and/or up to $1,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint, Racine police were called to the 4000 block of Marquette Drive at 7:58 p.m. Wednesday for calls of a civil trouble complaint. When officers arrived, a woman told them she had gotten into an argument with Martinez because Martinez's child was at the woman's house playing with the woman's children even though the woman has made it clear the child is not welcome.

When the woman went to Martinez's house to speak to her about the situation, she said Martinez came out of her house yelling and using profanity. The woman walked away and called police to report the incident, asking that officers speak to Martinez about her behavior, the complaint reads.

When police did make contact with Martinez, they say she continued to swear profusely, calling the other woman names. Officers warned Martinez if she didn't calm down, she would be taken into custody for disorderly conduct. While police were talking with Martinez, her older son exited the residence and said, "They are gonna get cut if they want to act like that.” 

The young man had black, folding knife clipped to the front of his pants, but he went back in the house as instructed by his mother, according to the complaint. He also stated, "I'm going to defend myself."

Police say they left the scene, but parked a few blocks away to monitor the situation. It didn't take long for officers to hear shouting coming from the direction of Martinez's home so they drove over to assess the situation.

When officers arrived for the second time, they say they found both Martinez and her older son yelling at a group of neighbors. When the neighbors saw police, they pointed at the older son and said he had a knife. One witness reported that the older son pointed the knife at him but did not swing at him or cut him with it. 

As soon as officers arrived on scene, the older son went back into the house and emerged a short time later without the knife. While the young man was in the house, Martinez continued to yell at her neighbors so police took her into custody for disorderly conduct, the complaint reads.

Police questioned the older son who told them the neighbor "came at him" so he pulled his knife to defend himself. Officers say they retrieved the knife from behind a computer inside the home and took it into evidence.

During her initial appearance Thursday on the disorderly conduct charge, Martinez signed a $350 signature bond and had to come up with $150 cash bond as well. She will next be in court for a pre-trial conference on July 25.


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