Police arrest Hansen at tennis match

WATKINS GLEN--Hector resident Kristina Hansen was arrested again at the Watkins Glen Central School District the Wednesday afternoon, May 4. The arrest took place around 4:45 p.m. while Hansen was attending a tennis match at the district. Hansen is currently seeking dismissal of a separate trespassing charge stemming from a March 21 incident where she was led away in handcuffs while attempting to attend a school board meeting.
"It's really the same situation, just continuing," Hansen said. "Within New York State Educational Law, there is a very specific code of conduct and how school districts are allowed to enforce that code of conduct. That's actually the basis of all of this, the fact that Watkins Glen is not following New York State Educational Law in this matter."
Hansen also claimed she received a phone call from an officer earlier that day, saying she should no longer be driving her daughter to school and picking her up. However, Hansen said she had been driving her daughter to and from school since March 21 without incident. She added she had planned on going to the tennis match all week, as it was the last home match on the calendar and she knows a lot of the kids who play on the team. Hansen said she will be arraigned on the new trespass charge Thursday, May 19 at 3 p.m.
This is the latest in a series of conflicts between Hansen and the school district, with the initial arrest coming March 21 prior to the start of a regular school board meeting. Previously, March 11, she was escorted off of school grounds by police after attempting to attend a closed staff meeting, which Hansen said had a quorum of school board members attending. After the March 11 incident, Superintendent Tom Phillips informed Hansen she must obtain written permission before visiting school grounds. Hansen did not follow this process when she attempted to attend the March 21 school board meeting.
"There is a very basic request from the district that she simply send a request to come to the district, and she continues to refuse to follow the process," Phillips said.
The initial trespass charge was dismissed in court, but the prosecution was allowed to refile more suitable charges, with Hansen pleading not guilty to criminal trespass in the third degree and being rearrested April 28.
Hansen has also filed notices of claim against both the Watkins Glen school board and the Watkins Glen Village Police for her first arrest. In Hansen's notice of claim to the school district, she names Phillips and School Board President Kelly McCarthy. Officers Isaac Marmor and Jamie Coleman were named in Hansen's claim against the Watkins Glen Police Department. The claims are for false arrest, unlawful imprisonment, abuse of process, malicious prosecution, trespass to person and battery.