GREENFIELD — A 30-year-old Greenfield woman accused of physically assaulting an elderly woman at a pro-Israel rally on the Greenfield Common in May turned herself into the police last week, according to Police Chief Todd Dodge.

The defendant, whose case was impounded from court records to protect her and the alleged victim’s safety, faces charges of assault and battery on an elderly or disabled person, disorderly conduct and a civil rights violation after she allegedly struck the activist on May 28. During the defendant’s arraignment in Greenfield District Court on Aug. 29, Judge Laurie MacLeod released the defendant on personal recognizance.

Dodge said the defendant, who faced an arrest warrant for the alleged assault, turned herself into Greenfield Police on Aug. 29, the same day she was arraigned. According to witness statements provided to Greenfield Police, the woman approached the group of protesters yelling “stop genocide” before allegedly confronting the 82-year-old victim.

While one witness told police the defendant shoved the elderly woman to the ground, another stated that she slapped the victim, causing her to fall over.

“We don’t understand what her motivation was, but we don’t condone it in any way. This is certainly not something we let go and we certainly did not take lightly. We stayed on top of this case and months later, we were able to find her and arrest her for it. We don’t like this happening in Greenfield,” Dodge said.

The defendant will appear in Greenfield District Court for a pretrial conference on Oct. 18. The defendant’s attorney John “Jack” Godleski said he expects the pretrial conference will feature the presentation of a substantial amount of witness testimony, security camera footage, photographs and videos as evidence.

“It’s still very early in the process, but there are two sides to every case and we’re developing a defense,” Godleski said. “It’s not as simple as the allegations make it out to be.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.