Bloomington woman arrested after allegedly kicking in door, burning grown son

A Bloomington woman was arrested Saturday after allegedly breaking into her son's house, demanding he return stolen money to her and instigating an argument resulting in injury.

When police responded to an apartment in the 1600 block of West Arlington Road at approximately 12:40 p.m., the officer noticed the apartment's front door appeared to be kicked in, said Bloomington Police Sgt. Jeff Canada.

Canada said the officer also observed what appeared to be smoke inside the apartment.

The mother, Jona Rector-Schwartz, 37, allegedly arrived at her 21-year-old son's apartment and kicked through the front door to gain entrance, Canada said. Upon her entrance into the residence, Rector-Schwartz allegedly approached her son and demanded he return money to her.

The son told police his mother then burnt him on the right side of the face with a lit cigarette.

About 12 hours before the incident, Rector-Schwartz reported a theft to the Bloomington Police Department.

Because the theft is still under investigation, Canada was unable to disclose exact figures, though he said Rector-Schwartz reported thousands of dollars in cash was stolen from her home.

Still demanding the money to be returned, Rector-Schwartz then grabbed a purse belonging to her son's girlfriend, Canada said. After digging through the purse, Rector-Schwartz allegedly grabbed a pot of boiling water from the kitchen and threw the scolding water on her son and his girlfriend.

The son told police he then fired a fire extinguisher in his mother's direction to try and get her to leave the apartment.

The officer who responded to the apartment observed noodles and hard boiled eggs scattered across the apartment's floor. Rector-Schwartz admitted to kicking in the door to gain access to the apartment, Canada said.

She was arrested and faces preliminary charges of unauthorized residential entry and aggravated battery for the cigarette burn on her son's face.

Nobody involved in the incident suffered from severe injuries, Canada said.

-- Mark Keierleber