'Did you say my brain is empty, Isaac?' Lakota board member accuses colleague of assault

A Lakota Local Schools Board of Education member accused another board member of assault last week, according to a report filed with the Butler County Sheriff's Office.

Darbi Boddy says her colleague Isaac Adi told her "your brain is empty" as they ended an executive session last Tuesday. The board was interviewing superintendent candidates that night at the central office on Princeton Road in Liberty Township, according to the police report and the meeting agenda.

Boddy took out her phone and started recording. She asked him, "what did you say again?" and Adi asked Boddy if she was recording him. He then slapped her hand as she held her cell phone, the report says. Boddy stopped recording shortly afterwards. Then they both got into their cars and went their separate ways.

Boddy filed the police report four days later.

Superintendent search:Lakota Local Schools schedules Q&A with superintendent finalists, wants community feedback

"My intent was just to file a report and to let the community know that there is a violent man in the community," Boddy wrote to The Enquirer on Friday. "I have no interest in pushing this further. I did my job and reported it."

Adi did not respond to The Enquirer's request for comment as of Friday. District spokesperson Betsy Fuller said the district is "aware of allegations by one board member against another" and that it had been turned over to the sheriff's office, but declined further comment.

Boddy posted a video of the incident on Facebook on Thursday with the caption: "At least twice now Isaac Adi has assaulted someone for merely attempting to record what he is saying to them. I'm posting this because I think it's important to expose abusive people like this contemporaneously when possible."

In the video, Boddy is following Adi as he walks out doors of the district building.

"What did you say again? Did you say my brain is empty, Isaac?" she asks him.

"I did not say that," Adi says, walking away.

Then Adi says, "You are videoing me?" and appears to swat Boddy's phone away. "Why are you videoing me?"

Boddy replies with: "Don't assault me. You just − you're assaulting me. You just assaulted me on camera."

Adi again asks why she's recording him, to which Boddy says, "Because you speak very badly to me."

Boddy continues recording as they walk out to the parking lot. Adi again denies that he told Boddy her "brain was empty."

"So now you're lying?" Boddy asks. "Because you know you're being caught doing something you're not supposed−"

The video cuts out as Boddy is finishing her sentence.

Adi and Boddy ran together for the 2021 school board race. But since joining the Lakota School Board, the two have rarely seen eye to eye.

Boddy has been the subject of several controversies in the district since she was elected. Some members of the community are collecting signatures to remove her from office. Former superintendent Matt Miller says she is the reason he resigned last fall. Her supporters say she is a champion for parental rights and echo her requests to remove critical race theory from the district, though district administrators have consistently said the theory does not exist at Lakota.

The Butler County Sheriff's Office says the assault is under investigation.