DOCUMENT: Stupid, Crime

Police: Reveler Hit Cop In Face With Top Hat

Woman, 49, busted for New Year's Eve battery

View Document

Top Hat Battery

JANUARY 2--Minutes after ringing in 2023, an Ohio woman vacationing in Florida was arrested for striking a uniformed cop squarely in the face with a plastic New Year’s Eve top hat, according to an arrest report.

Police were at a St. Petersburg restaurant early yesterday investigating a reported battery when Kristie Ethridge, 49, allegedly committed a felony attack on a law enforcement officer.

Cops say they were dispatched to the eatery--which was hosting a New Year’s Eve party--to investigate a battery allegedly committed by Ethridge’s husband William, 54. As police questioned William, Kristie “continuously interjected herself into the conversation,” prompting Officer Anthony Bragano to advise her to “stop talking.”

Ethridge, cops charge, became “very upset” and yelled, “Are you fucking kidding me!” Ethridge, seen above, then “threw a plastic ‘New Year’s Eve’ top hat directly at me, striking me squarely in my face just above the eyes,” Bragano reported.

The 12:13 AM incident resulted in Ethridge’s bust on a felony battery rap. She was also hit with a misdemeanor charge for allegedly resisting police attempts to handcuff her. Ethridge’s husband was 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.” Ethridge was released from the county jail Sunday morning after posting $2650 bond. Her spouse, who was charged with battery and resisting police, was freed on $650 bond.

According to online profiles, Ethridge lives in a Columbus, Ohio suburb and operates a window shade company. (1 page)