A businesswoman was humiliated in court as a drunken thug after she began a confrontation with police when they were dispatched to help her son who was mentally ill.
Sonia Ingargiola, 54, overreacted when she returned home from a shopping excursion and wine-fueled lunch on June 18 at 9:45 p.m. to find officers and paramedics at her residence.
The entrepreneur and her buddy had been out in Manchester for lunch and shopping.
During the ensuing altercation, Ingargiola, who owns a stylish hair shop in Macclesfield, Cheshire, poured a second glass of wine before throwing her elderly mother into a kitchen cupboard.
She then violently kicked a police officer who was bringing her to a patrol car outside.
Her anonymous 23-year-old son, who experienced a mental breakdown after quitting college owing to Covid, was arrested under the Mental Health Act after he began shouting at the officers in protest of his mother’s imprisonment.
Sonia Ingargiola, 54, shown outside Warrington Magistrates’ Court, claimed she was’mortified’ after admitting to attacking her mother and a police officer after an incident at her residence.
She was ordered by Warrington Magistrates’ Court to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and pay PC Alice Wragg of Cheshire Police £75 in reparation.
When later questioned about the event, Ingargiola stated that she felt ‘threatened and afraid’ because she believed police and paramedics were ‘overcrowding’ her kid, who was experiencing a medical episode.
After pleading guilty in Warrington magistrates court to attacking her mother Julia Cunningham and assaulting police, she was reportedly’mortified’. She was ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and pay PC Alice Wragg of Cheshire Police £75 in reparation.
PC Wragg had momentary pain and discomfort as a result of the incident. Mrs. Cunningham, who was not believed to have been injured during the event, declined to make a witness statement.
In mitigation, defense attorney Howard Jones stated, ‘It is unfortunate that Ms. Ingargiola stands before the court at the age of 54 with no prior convictions. It is a case in which her behavior is clearly deemed to be out of character.
According to a probation report read to the court, when Ingariola arrived home, she assumed her kid was experiencing a drug-induced psychotic episode, which drove her to “panic out.”
The defense attorney for Ingargiola stated that her son was experiencing a mental health crisis and she was frightened that police and paramedics were ‘crowding’ him.
The report stated, ‘He occasionally uses cannabis, but she was aware that he may have consumed another substance the night before. She believed that the police and paramedics were surrounding him excessively, and she felt frightened and terrified. Concerned for her children, she kicked the police out and was impolite and disrespectful. It was utterly uncharacteristic.
She consumed alcohol in the midst of the chaos in which she found herself. She used to smoke to ease her anxiety, but she recently quit and sought for a drink.
She acknowledges she lost control. She simply desired to safeguard her son. She knows, however, that the police and paramedics would have been concerned about her conduct. They were only present to perform their duties.
In sentencing Ingargiola, District Judge John McGarva stated, ‘I am certain that you are utterly ashamed that you assaulted your own mother, and that you will be utterly ashamed that you assaulted the police officer as well. They were only performing their duties.
In addition, Ingargiola was ordered to pay £160 in fees and victim surcharge.