Two children bit when trying to break up family fight

Two boys tried to stop a physical altercation between a mother and grandmother Sunday evening and got bit in the process, police said.

Cedar Rapids police responded around 10:30 p.m. to a report of a disturbance at 1438 15th St. SE. According to a police report, officers witnessed Mata M. Taylor, 29, punching her mother, Dasha Taylor, 48, in the face.

Officers determined Mata Taylor got into a verbal disagreement with her mother and a friend of her mother's that ultimately escalated. According to the report, Mata Taylor took a mirror and tried to hit her mother over the head, but Taylor's 9-year-old son and her 14-year-old nephew got in the middle of the fight.

"They were coming to their grandmother's assistance," Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said.

That's when police said Mata Taylor started biting everyone. She bit her son in the left forearm, bit the nephew on the right side of his face and bit her mother on the right forearm, according to the police report.

Officers took Mata Taylor into custody on suspicion of three counts of assault causing bodily injury. Her mother and the two boys all declined medical treatment.

Hamblin said the original argument was a family dispute. She said the 9-year-old had been living with his grandmother, Dasha Taylor, and the 14-year-old was visiting from Illinois.

Mata Taylor was already on probation after she was convicted of stabbing and biting a man in June 2011, police said.

Mata Taylor remained at the Linn County Jail on Monday afternoon. Her bond, with the three charges and a probation violation, was set at $11,000.

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