Cop investigating assault on NYE battered by suspect’s top hat-wielding missus

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A woman celebrating the New Year in Florida was arrested just 13 minutes into 2023 after hitting a police officer in the face with a novelty top hat, according to a St. Petersburg police arrest report.

Kristie Ethridge, 49, was detained at 12.13am by officers who had been called to The Avenue restaurant and sports bar in St. Petersburg in response to allegations of an assault committed by her husband William, 54.

As officer Officer Anthony Bragano advised Mr Ethridge of his rights, Kristie Ethridge “continuously interjected herself into the conversation,” according to arrest report.

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Officer Bragano advised Ethridge to “stop talking,” at which point she became “very upset” and yelled, “Are you f*****g kidding me!?”.

It was at this point, The Smoking Gun reports, that she took a plastic “Happy New Year” top hat that she had been wearing and threw it directly at Officer Bragano, striking him, he later reported “squarely in my face just above the eyes”.

Officer Bragano noted that he was wearing his full police uniform at the time and was unmistakably a law enforcement officer.

He arrested Ethridge on a felony battery charge, to which he added a misdemeanor charge for allegedly resisting police attempts to handcuff her.

Ethridge’s husband was also arrested after he tried to “intervene” as his wife was being taken into custody.

Arrest affidavits indicate that both defendants showed an “indication of alcohol influence.”

Both defendants were later released on bond – $2650 (about £2,200) in Kristie Ethridge’s case and a more modest $650 bond for her husband.

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The couple, who live in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, had been in Florida for the holidays.

While most people in the Sunshine State managed to see out the holiday season comparatively peacefully, at least one other used a festive decoration as an offensive weapon.

Frankie Caldwell, a 55-year-old resident of Clearwater, Florida, allegedly struck his girlfriend in the head with an “angel figurine” on Christmas morning confrontation.

The 53-year-old victim, described in court papers as Caldwell’s “on-again-off-again girlfriend of nine years,” told arresting officers that pieces of the the “fragile” Christmas ornament had “fallen down the back of her dress after he smashed it over her head.

Caldwell was arrested just after 7am on Christmas morning on charges of felony battery and booked into the Pinellas county jail, where he remains locked up in lieu of $7500 bond.

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