Saturday, July 28, 2007

Domestic Argument Escalates To Stabbing

   A South Lawrence woman faces assault charges after an argument between she and her boyfriend escalated into a stabbing last weekend.

   Danita Suzett Betancourt, 39, was arrested on charges of vandalism and aggravated assault on Saturday, July 21, after Lawrence County Sheriff’s Deputies were summoned to her 41 South Ball Park Road, Summertown, home.

   Betancourt summoned deputies to the home around 4:11 p.m., claming that she had been the victim in the domestic altercation. She reported that her thirty-nine-year-old boyfriend spit in her face, she smacked him in the head, and that he then held her arms and throat and began beating her. Deputies noted that Betancourt had marks on her arms and legs and a knot on the right side of her head.

   Betancourt told deputies that she did not know where the man had gone, because she had cut two tires on the car. When they noticed spots of blood on the porch, they questioned Betancourt about it. She told deputies that “she may have cut him, she was unsure.”

   Betancourt was checked by emergency medical personnel, but refused transport to Crockett Hospital.

   While they were still talking with Betancourt, deputies were notified by Lawrenceburg Police Officers that a stabbing case they were working appeared to be related to Betancourt’s case.

   When they spoke with the man, he told them that he and Betancourt had become involved in an argument over a Coca Cola and that she had cut his tires. When he began yelling at her, he said Betancourt stabbed him in the left arm and leg.

   Emergency medical personnel also tended to the man’s stab wounds, however reports show that he, too, refused transport to the hospital.

   Both individuals were transported to the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department for further questioning. Warrants were then issued against Betencourt.

   Betancourt was arrested and processed at the jail without incident. She is scheduled for an initial appearance in Lawrence County General Sessions Court on August 13.

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