A Villager known for her charitable work has been ordered into anger management after trying to run down a mother and child in a parking dispute at Walmart.
Barbara McManus, 75, of the Village of St. Charles, has been ordered to complete eight hours of in-person anger management and will be on probation for 60 days, according to a document filed this past month in Sumter County Court. She entered a plea of no contest to two counts of assault.
McManus, who has been lauded for her work on behalf of the Wildwood Soup Kitchen, was driving a Nissan Rogue on Sept. 16 when a woman driving a black Jeep Patriot pulled into a spot which had just been vacated at Walmart at Buffalo Ridge Plaza in The Villages, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. McManus also wanted the spot, but was blocked by a vehicle pulling out of a handicapped spot.
McManus “became verbally aggressive, using foul language,” the report said. The other woman admitted she had “reciprocated.”
The other woman picked up her small child and walked to enter the store. She claimed that McManus “accelerated toward them, nearly hitting them.” She said she was “in fear” that McManus’ vehicle was going to strike them.
McManus disputed the other woman’s account. McManus said there had been a “misunderstanding.”
Surveillance footage from Walmart surveillance cameras clearly showed the parking dispute. The footage also showed McManus’ Nissan Rogue traveling toward the woman and her son, “stopping just short of striking” them and “well within” six feet of them.
After reviewing the surveillance, a deputy concluded there was probable cause for McManus’ arrest.
McManus turned herself in Oct. 1 at Bob’s 24-Hour Bail Bonds and surrendered to authorities.