Woman Charged in Park Assaults
Prosecutors on Thursday charged a 21-year-old Mission Viejo woman with planting razor blades and nails at nine parks, saying the 10th incident was probably the work of a copycat.
Lori Elizabeth Fischer faces 18 counts of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted child abuse for allegedly planting sharp objects in slides and burying them in sand over the last two months. The incidents prompted deputies to routinely search all south Orange County parks with metal detectors.
Fischer was arrested Tuesday at Vista del Lago Park in Mission Viejo after police watched her enter the park and leave seven minutes later. Police, who had searched the park two hours earlier, discovered nails at the playground.
Thursday authorities released a tape of her arrest that showed that she kept holding the steering wheel and refused to come out of her car after police pulled her over.
After a 30-minute standoff, police with guns drawn smashed the rear windows of her car and pulled her out.
During her first court appearance in South Justice Center in Laguna Niguel, Fischer replied softly to the judge in one-word answers and kept her head bowed throughout the hearing.
Judge Carl Biggs continued her arraignment until June 21 but kept her bail at $500,000.
If convicted, Fischer faces up to 12 years in prison.
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