A man in Orange Lake, New York, arrived at his daughter’s school to pick her up. However, he came across his ex and her family, ready to take the young girl themselves, even though a custody order stated it was the man’s scheduled parenting day. In the end, security became involved, and the police were called.
Mark Angel Pagan shared the tense and awkward situation on TikTok. He regularly shares a variety of content online, including lifestyle and parenting videos. The clip attached above became one of his biggest in over a day, garnering 614,800 views, 22,800 likes, and more than 400 comments.
The man started recording his ex’s family all waiting outside the girl’s school. The child’s grandmother could be seen doing peace signs at the New York man, possibly in a mocking manner. She then approached Mark and told him that he wasn’t allowed to record her, so things were tense from the get-go.
Custody Order
Mark gave some explanation of what was happening in the clip’s description. According to him, the girl’s mother had asked to switch parenting weeks, with him giving away five parenting days in exchange for one. He didn’t agree with those terms.
“Her response was to show up at my daughter’s school with several family members during my parenting time,” he wrote. “[…] They were there hoping my daughter would leave with them instead of following the parenting schedule and come with me.”
An argument ensued between the man and the mother’s family. School security intervened, telling them to knock it off. Mark, meanwhile, said that “the police were called,” given that there was a custody order in place.
The New York man said in the captions that the child’s mother had entered the school “to try to get my daughter.” The child would then exit the school alongside her mother, but security is shown waiving the girl toward her dad instead and tells the woman’s family to leave.
Things Escalate
Still, the girl’s step-grandfather approached Mark, and a brief argument took place. The father argued that the communication between the two parties was lackluster. However, when the security guard approached them with the girl, named Aurora, her step-grandfather is shown grabbing her hand and telling her, “Let’s go.”
A few steps later, security asked Mark if the step-grandfather was with him, and he said no. The back-and-forth continued, and Aurora appeared to be distraught and confused. Mark told the man, “You can’t just show up to school with the sister, the aunt, the grandmother, and try to take her.”
The step-grandfather told Mark, “I’m not trying to take care right now. Nobody’s trying to take her right now.” In the background, however, the grandmother, who was previously throwing peace signs at the New York dad, can be seen escorting Aurora away.
Eventually, security intervened again, and Aurora said goodbye to her mother’s family. He wrote that he decided to share this publicly to make things change that otherwise wouldn’t, even though attorneys are involved.
Social Media Reactions
The video sparked multiple responses online, mainly from viewers who were as upset as Mark. One said, “The school has to go by the court order. Period.” Another one commented, “Why do parents do this? The damage this does to the children.”
Others told the New York father to take action. One wrote, “Take her to court and show this video.” Another one added, “Get straight back to court. They could be held in contempt of a court order.”
In the video’s caption, Mark said the footage was only the first part of the custody dispute. However, at the time of writing, he has not uploaded a follow-up video, leaving some questions about what happened next unanswered.
