'Large amount of blood': Woman whacks opponent with pickleball paddle after victim criticized her son's style of play, cops say

An statement betwixt 2 Florida pickleball players that started implicit who was expected to prime up the shot turned convulsive erstwhile a pistillate allegedly hit her hostile respective times with a paddle aft the unfortunate criticized her son.

Michele Lauren Bannister stands accused of aggravated battery with a deadly limb and mendacious recognition fixed to a instrumentality enforcement officer.

The incidental occurred astir 10 a.m. May 31 astatine Treaty Park successful St. Augustine, a probable origin apprehension affidavit by the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office said. Bannister and the antheral were playing pickleball erstwhile the lucifer turned salty implicit the retrieval of a ball.

According to cops, the unfortunate went implicit to Bannister's lad to "critique" his playing benignant erstwhile the lucifer was over. This seemingly enraged Bannister, who "interjected herself" into the argument.

"The suspect past struck the unfortunate successful the caput respective times with a pickle shot paddle, leaving wounded to his look that caused respective cuts and a ample magnitude of blood," cops wrote.

Deputies were trying to place the suspect, who allegedly gave cops a fake name, saying respective times it was "Aiyanna Lei." But she gave cops her existent location address, which allowed them to place her.

In an interrogation with police, she allegedly claimed she was protecting her son, but detectives determined that based connected unfortunate and witnesser statements, determination was not "an imminent menace to life, limb, oregon a propensity of unit astir to occur."

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Defense lawyer Rosemarie Peoples of the Smith & Eulo instrumentality steadfast told the St. Johns Citizen that her lawsuit was preventing a "violent attack" against her son.

"Michele Bannister is simply a mom, nurse, and exemplary citizen," Peoples told the outlet successful a statement. "She is wrongly accused of a crime; her actions were needed to halt a convulsive effort to onslaught her young son. I expect that a assemblage of her peers volition afloat exonerate her heroic efforts to support her child."

Deputies arrested Bannister and took her to the St. Johns County Jail, wherever she has since posted bond. Her adjacent tribunal day is acceptable for July 28.