A Florida woman has been accused in the brutal sledgehammer assault of her ex-boyfriend.
Angela Rhodes, 52, beat her ex-boyfriend, 48-year-old Thommy Whidden, with a single-handed sledgehammer while they were in the driveway of his Naples residence on Monday, a spokesperson for the Collier County Sheriff's Office told The Huffington Post.
According to the incident report, sheriff's deputy Stephen German was one of the first officers to arrive on the scene. German found a beaten and bloodied Whidden lying in the road.
"I observed that Thommy had a lot of blood coming from his nose, eyes and mouth," the report reads. "Thommy was injured on the left side of his face."
Whidden was having difficulty breathing, so German turned the severely injured man on his side so blood that was obstructing his airway could drain from his nose and mouth.
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While German attended to Whidden, other deputies arriving on the scene had to restrain Rhodes. According to the police report, she was standing nearby, screaming. Once calmed down, Rhodes allegedly made "numerous spontaneous utterances."
Rhodes allegedly told police that her 34-year-old son, Michael Thompson, had assaulted Whidden and fled in his pickup truck. While an officer alerted dispatch about the make and model of Thompson's truck, German asked Whidden who assaulted him. According to police, the injured man replied, "Angie." Whidden said the assault occurred inside a vehicle that was parked in the driveway.
Authorities conducted a search of a 1990 Buick that was parked in the driveway and found a bloody sledgehammer lying on the driver's side floorboard.
"Thommy was unable to respond to any more of my questions," the incident report reads. "I directed him to focus on his breathing until EMS arrived."
According to Marconews.com, deputies had been to the residence on three previous occasions since April. During one of their prior visits, Rhodes was arrested for criminal mischief. She was allegedly angry that Whidden had been out with a friend and did $200 in damage to his friend's car. The other two incidents were in relation to a possible disturbance and a welfare check, the media outlet reported.
When emergency responders arrived on the scene of the alleged sledgehammer attack, Whidden was transported to a local hospital and later airlifted to Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers. He was admitted in critical condition and placed in a medically induced coma, police said.
Thompson eventually returned to the home and told police an entirely different story than the one told by his mother. According to Thompson, Whidden recently ended an 18-year relationship with Rhodes. Thompson said he was at Whidden's home when his mother arrived that evening and left when she started a fight with Whidden.
Rhodes was taken into custody and transported to the sheriff's office for an interview. At the station she was read her rights and voluntarily gave another statement to police, this one different than the one she had given earlier, according to the police report.
READ THE POLICE REPORT:
During her second conversation with police, Rhodes allegedly said she had been drinking wine before driving to Whidden's house. Rhodes said that when she arrived at the house, her son grabbed her purse and she screamed for Whidden. When her ex-boyfriend exited the home, he began fighting with a third man, Rhodes allegedly told police.
Police did not buy either story.
"Due to Angela's inconsistent statements, the physical evidence at the scene and the victim statement identifying Angela as the suspect, I placed Angela under arrest for aggravated battery," German wrote in his police report.
Rhodes is being held at the Collier County Jail on $100,000 bond. It was not immediately clear Thursday if she is being represented by an attorney.
According to Naplesnews.com, Whidden has been upgraded from critical to fair condition.