A Stamford woman screamed and swore at Darien Library staff, then came back and did the same when she was told to leave, then did it with police, who arrested her, police said.
And she’s been accused repeatedly of doing the same thing in the past, according to previous news reports.
No violence or other threatening behavior was reported in any of the incidents police described in Darien or in news reports of past incidents in Westport and Fairfield.
Darien police gave this account (with accusations not proven in court) of the library incidents:
At some point before 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 3, Megan Oddis-Sqitzer, 50, was involved in a short disturbance in which she was yelling at library staff.
She left, but later returned and began yelling profanities where other library patrons heard her, including a woman and two young children entering the building during a busy time at the library, the director later told police. The library director said he asked her to step outside. After several minutes, she did so, while yelling.
The director gave her a letter notifying her that she was banned from using the library for 30 days.
At about 4:30 p.m., police were called to the library at 1441 Post Road after they received a report about the disturbance. Oddis-Switzer was clearly upset and yelled and swore at police outside the library.
She told police the library wasn’t allowed to tell her she couldn’t be there, but police told her that the library did have that power. Police told her she would be arrested for criminal trespass if she returned.
Oddis-Switzer was charged with second-degree breach of peace. Police also found two warrants for her arrest had been issued charging her with failure to appear in court. She didn’t pay the $990 bail set for those past cases and, as of Monday, remained in jail.
Her bond amount for the March 3 Darien case is $1,000. She has court appearances scheduled in March and April in state superior courts in Stamford and Norwalk.
According to the Connecticut Judicial Branch website, Oddis-Switzer was charged with failure to appear in court in February 2015 in connection with July 28, 2014 charges of first-degree criminal trespass and second-degree breach of peace.
Similar reports in the past
The July 2014 incident may be connected to charges by Westport police who said she screamed and used foul language in a confrontation with staff at a beach in that town, according to a report at the time by the Westport News. A camp session for children was nearby.
In February 2015, the month she is charged with not appearing in court, these police accusations against her were reported by news organizations covering Fairfield:
- Yelling and screaming at Fairfield University and refusing to leave the grounds (report in the Fairfield Minuteman)
- Trespassing in a church kitchen (Fairfield Minuteman)
- Screaming at customers, at a book store in downtown Fairfield, a place where she had previously been told not to return. (Fairfield Daily Voice)