Charges have been filed in connection with an incident involving a mother and her young child at the zoo.

On Thursday, May 15, around 1:10 p.m., South Bend Police Officers were dispatched to the Potawatomi Zoo on the report of a woman assaulting her child. When officers arrived, they located the suspect, 41-year-old Angel Shidaker, and her four-year-old child in one of the zoo’s restrooms.

Shidaker told officers that when she informed her child that it was time to leave the zoo, the child ran away from her and fell down. Shidaker also told officers that she slapped her child on the bottom. Shidaker also stated that her child is a runner, so she uses a harness on the child.

A witness told officers that she saw Shidaker pick up her child and slam the child on the ground. The same witness also stated that Shidaker had the harness wrapped around her child’s neck. The witness told officers that she tried to grab the harness and Shidaker pulled away, cussing at the witness. The witness said that the child was crying and Shidaker told the child to “shut the hell up” and hit the child on the side of the head.

A second witness stated that she noticed Shidaker becoming angry with her child and screaming loudly, eventually hitting the child on the ground behind the bushes.

An South Bend Police officer observed the child to have dirt on their arms and leg, small red spots on the back of their head and possible swelling and a bruise forming near their temple.

Shidaker was arrested and transported to the St. Joseph County Jail.

On Friday, the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office filed the following charges against Shidaker:

– Domestic Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury to a Person Less Than 14 Years of Age (Felony)

– Domestic Battery on a Person Less Than 14 Years Old (Felony)

– Domestic Battery (Misdemeanor)

Shidaker is being held at the St. Joseph County Jail.