FORT WORTH, Texas – A woman unceremoniously dubbed #SwingSetSusan has been charged with impersonating a police officer.
According to KDFW, 38-year-old Samantha Eley was charged Wednesday with one count of impersonating a public servant after verbally harassing several Hispanic teens who were playing at a park near Fort Worth’s Trinity River. The park is reportedly available to all citizens, regardless of age, but that was a point of contention between Eley and the teenagers.
Fort Worth Police noted on Twitter that the impersonation charges were added while Eley was already serving time in the Tarrant County jail on a bond violation in an unrelated assault case.
Last week, Eley was caught on cell phone video accosting several teenagers at Dream Park. The video quickly went viral. (See video below.)
In the footage, multiple teenage girls can be seen playing on an orange swing set, generally having fun and minding their business until Eley arrives, announcing her presence by angrily shouting.
“Stop! Stop!” she says, hushing the group into a puzzled quietness. “It’s a children’s park, stop. Stop now.”
“Eley then saunters up to the group and slams her hands down on the swing one of the girls was using,” according to the warrant issued by FWPD and obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“We are children?” a somewhat confused girl says off-camera.
“No, you’re not,” Eley responds. “And if you think you’re a f***ing child, are you over the age [allowed to be in the park]?”
The teenagers immediately protest that they are not over the age allowed in the park and criticize the woman’s interference, according to Law & Crime.
“Okay, well,” the woman says while waving her hands, “I’m a f***ing PD, so get the f*** out of here now if you’re not here to play as a child. Read the f***ing sign.”
The park is, in fact, an inclusive space, open to all citizens. Moreover, the girls seem puzzled regarding Eley’s status as a police officer.
Near the end of the video, one of the girls attempts to reason with Eley, explaining that she’s only 16-years-old.
“Right,” she says. “Then you’re not a f***ing child. Thirteen or younger. Actually not, because you provoked yourself as a child and you’re not even acting like a child. Are you? You said you’re 16. If you’re not, I can literally arrest you as an adult. Which is your choice? Are you a child or are you a god damned adult?”
The Star-Telegram reported one of the girls interviewed by a Fort Worth police detective said she and her friends left the park after the interaction with Eley because she thought Eley was a police officer, according to the warrant.
The girls later identified Eley in a photo lineup–prompting the Wednesday public servant impersonation charge.
The woman dubbed #SwingSetSusan declined to discuss the incident in the park when asked to do so by a FWPD detective, according to the warrant, which says she has previously gone by the names of Samantha Silvers and Samantha Chacon.
This was not an isolated incident. Other park-goers previously complained about Eley’s behavior.
https://twitter.com/S2mba1/status/1184680335101038592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1184680335101038592&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flawandcrime.com%2Fcrazy%2Ffort-worth-police-respond-after-swingsetsusan-harasses-hispanic-teens-at-park-pretends-to-be-a-cop%2F
Furthermore, it appears Fort Worth Police were inundated with prior complaints about the woman.
Eley is currently in custody at the Tarrant County Jail in lieu of a $2,500 bond.
