A Schuylkill County woman faces simple assault and harassment charges after police say she struck another woman with a lanyard of keys during a dispute over rumors.
Police in Schuylkill Haven say they responded to the area in front of the High Rise on Feb. 25 for a report of an altercation. According to police, three witnesses said Michelle Hampton, 55, began yelling at the victim from across the street before marching toward the victim, who was sitting on a bench.
The victim told police Hampton screamed in her face and started swinging her keys by a lanyard, striking the victim in the left ear and the left side of her neck. In response, the victim said she deployed pepper spray, hitting Hampton in the face and causing her to retreat.
Police say the victim reported that Hampton then went up to her 11th-floor apartment to retrieve her own pepper spray. The victim said Hampton returned and stopped halfway across Parkway, briefly shooting pepper spray in her direction but missing entirely.
When questioned by police, Hampton’s face and right eye were red from the spray. Hampton admitted crossing the street to confront the victim because she believed the victim was spreading rumors and had previously sent her a text calling her a “methhead.”
Hampton reportedly told police she swung her keys once because the victim lunged to her feet and she did not know what the victim might do. Hampton claimed she thought about retaliating with pepper spray but decided not to.
Three witnesses corroborated the victim’s account of the attack, with one witness telling police Hampton was “wailing on” the victim.
Police observed the victim’s ear was swollen, very red, and hot to the touch a half hour after the incident. Investigators also collected a fingernail and three keychain attachments that flew off Hampton during the altercation.
A preliminary hearing on these charges is scheduled for April 14 before Senior Magisterial District Judge Casimir Kosciolek in Orwigsburg.
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