Woman Charged With Felonious Grits Attack

SEPTEMBER 30--A Florida Woman is behind bars for allegedly striking her boyfriend in the head with a sauce pan “containing freshly cooked grits,” according to a felony complaint.

Investigators say Dereise Johnson, 49, and the victim were arguing yesterday morning when she struck the man with a metal sauce pan inside the couple’s St. Petersburg residence.

“Contained within this pan was hot grits which spilled on the victim, causing a burn to his left arm,” a cop reported. The victim also required stitches for injuries to his head and face, the complaint notes.

Johnson, seen above, was arrested and booked into the county jail for aggravated battery. She is being held in lieu of $5000 bond and has been ordered by a judge to have no contact with the victim.

Johnson’s rap sheet includes five separate battery convictions--both felony and misdemeanor counts--dating back to 2000. Her most recent conviction came in 2017 when she was sentenced to 90 days in jail for battery on a person over the age of 65. In that case, the victim was Johnson’s aunt, who suffered an eye injury and a bloody nose and lip after being struck in the face by her niece.

In 2019, Johnson was arrested for domestic battery after allegedly striking her boyfriend in the face during an argument about money (the victim is the same man involved in the current case). Prosecutors subsequently declined to pursue the felony rap against Johnson. (1 page)