Cops: Girl assaulted school aide

A 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL allegedly assaulted a 76-year-old crossing guard in Drexel Hill on Tuesday afternoon, and when police responded to the scene, she fought with them, too, police said.

The crossing guard, who has helped students from Garrettford Elementary School for the past 13 years, had just left her post at Edmunds Avenue and McCoy Street shortly after 3 p.m., when she felt something in her back and heard someone say, "Get out of my way or I'll kill you," said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

When she turned around, the woman saw whom she believed to be a young man but who was actually a 13-year-old girl dressed as a boy, Chitwood said. The girl again threatened the crossing guard, this time by saying, "I'm going to shoot you," Chitwood said.

"Now, she's scared to death," he said of the victim.

A 22-year-old man who lives in the neighborhood saw what was going on and stepped in between the child and the elderly woman, according to police. That gave the victim an opportunity to dial 9-1-1.

When police arrived, the young assailant "took a fighting stance with them" and struggled with officers who tried to arrest her, Chitwood said. She was taken into custody and was not found to be in possession of a gun. Police believe that the object she put in the victim's back was a pen.

Once at the station, the girl was placed in a containment room, where she spit on officers who came near her, police said. She was charged with aggravated assault and related offenses.