There’s more legal trouble for the Iowa woman accused of trying to kill a teen girl in an allegedly racist incident. Nicole Marie Poole Franklin, 42, is charged with a hate crime, but it’s not for that. This was for something that allegedly happened shortly after the event, according to The Des Moines Register.
Franklin had allegedly caused a scene at a Conoco gas station on Dec. 9. She put an ice cream cone in her pocket, ate a bag of chips she didn’t buy, and demanded that the employee give her liquor and $30 of gas. According to police, that employee claimed that she tried to take the bottle, and that she directed racial and ethnic slurs at him and customers.
Police arrested Franklin at the scene.
Gas station co-owner Waheed Abdul, 57, told the outlet he wasn’t there that day, but said surveillance camera showed the woman using racial and ethnic slurs at his brother.
Now Franklin is charged with a felony hate crime of assault in violation of individual rights. That’s in addition to theft and public intoxication. Nonetheless, this incident isn’t the one that could put her away for a long time.
Before that event, Franklin allegedly drove her SUV into a 14-year-old girl heading to school. Officials say this wasn’t an accident. The defendant allegedly admitted this was on purpose, and that she did it because the victim was a “Mexican.”
There are currently no hate crime charges in the attempted murder case. Records show Franklin was appointed a public defender. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Dec. 30.
Alleged victim Natalia Miranda sustained a concussion and bruising.
[Image via Polk County Jail]
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