Mom in daughter's fight with girl, 15, wanted to help resolve vendetta, attorney says

A Brentwood mother accused of driving her teenage daughter to fight another girl was actually trying to resolve the vendetta between the two, the woman's defense attorney said Friday.

Dorka Lopez, 41, of Merrill Street, was released on $3,000 cash bail Friday after being arraigned on two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree harassment, a violation.

Her daughter, 15, fought another 15-year-old at Regis Park in Brentwood on Thursday as an estimated 30 teens watched the fight, Suffolk police have said. At one point, the mother grabbed the other girl's head and shoved her to the ground, police said.

Attorney Lawrence Carra said his client, a Suffolk County nursing home employee, may have made a bad judgment in going to the park when she knew a fight was arranged but that she had "nothing but good intentions."

"She didn't sanction the physical contact between the parties," said Carra, based in Mineola.

"She drove her daughter to the park so that the children and the families could amicably resolve the situation that had escalated through various emails. The two young ladies engaged in physical contact, and she attempted to intercede to break up the altercation."

Her daughter was on the ground, with the other teenager slapping her, when Lopez pulled the girl off her daughter, the attorney said.

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The attorney said he did not know Friday what started the feud but believes both teenagers attend Brentwood High School.

Police did not release the girls' names.

Lopez, a mother of four, works as an aide in a Suffolk County nursing home, he said.

"She's a soft-spoken, gainfully employed, lovely woman who cherishes family values and this would be completely out of character for her to do something like this," Carra said.

"Was it the best judgment? Probably not. Is it a criminal act? I don't think so."