Ex-HGTV Star Jennifer Bertrand Accused of Hitting School Staffer With Porsche After Cutting Student Pickup Line

Former HGTV and Lifetime star Jennifer Bertrand, who won the third season of HGTV’s Design Star in 2008, has been accused of driving her Porsche into a school staff member in Platte County, Missouri.

According to KCTV5, the Platte County Sheriff’s Department issued an arrest warrant for Bertrand on January 31, where she’s facing one second-degree harassment charge stemming from an incident at a Platte County high school on August 20, 2024.

Platte County Sheriff’s Deputy Karl Lostroh was serving as a school resource officer on the day of the incident and was notified that a school staff member working as a traffic controller for student pickup had been “struck by a vehicle in the school’s parking lot.”

It is claimed that a black Porsche sedan “cut through the car rider line, nearly striking another vehicle as it was attempting to leave the parking lot.” In response, the alleged victim stepped in front of the car to talk to the driver, who was identified as Bertrand.

Bertrand, who hosted the short-lived HGTV show Paint Over following her Design Star victory, reportedly told the school staffer that she needed to pick her child up from school for an appointment and refused to get back in line behind the other parents when asked.

As the school parking line staffer turned to resume his duties, Bertrand is alleged to have driven forward and hit him on his right leg, causing him to lose his balance but not injuring him. When he told her to stop, he claimed she “began laughing and arguing with him” and said, “Don’t act like I hit you… I’ll see you in court.” She then drove forward a second time, hitting his leg again.

Lostroh claimed that surveillance footage from the school district appeared to support the alleged victim’s claims. A court date for the case has not yet been set.

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An interior designer, Bertrand first broke into the limelight in 2008 when she won Season 3 of the HGTV competition series Design Star. From there, she hosted her own one-hour special, Paint Over, helping families in desperate need of a home makeover, and appeared on an episode of HGTV Showdown.

According to her website, Bertrand now travels the country as a national speaker for various industry events and can also be seen in episodes of Military Makeover with Montel Williams on the Lifetime Channel.

Speaking to HGTV for a Where Are They Now? feature, Bertrand opened up about dealing with the fame she received after her Design Star victory.

“Being recognized since the show has been a lot of fun and given my family a lot of interesting stories,” she said. “The best is when you stand in an elevator or any public space and you see someone start to stare at you, you know they’re an HGTV viewer… It’s so funny because they’re trying not to stare, and then they finally ask, “Is it you?” I was even tracked down in a clothing store and told they knew it was me because of my laugh.”

Bertrand currently lives in Weatherby Lake, Missouri with her husband Chris and their son Winston. She has not commented publicly on her arrest.

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