DUBOIS – A DuBois woman will stand trial for allegedly assaulting and stabbing a man.
Ashlee Marie Bennett, 25, was charged by DuBois City police with aggravated assault, simple assault, possession of drug paraphernalia and harassment.
She waived her right to a preliminary hearing Friday during centralized court. At that time, her bail was reduced from $100,000 to $100,000, unsecured and she was released, according to online court documents.
The charges stem from an incident on July 7 at an apartment on South Brady Street.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police received information that Bennett was assaulted by her ex-boyfriend.
Shortly after they arrived on-scene, neighbors told them they heard the two arguing throughout the day. They said that Bennett was the one assaulting the man.
One witness heard the victim asking Bennett to “please stop.” She also saw the victim who appeared to have several injuries, including a stab wound on his leg, a deep scratch mark on the right side of his neck and bruising and swelling around his eye. She related she was concerned for his safety.
At first Bennett did not answer the door when police knocked. Eventually she did and said the victim was not in the apartment.
She admitted they had been fighting and he left with her cell phone. She claimed he had also removed fuses from her vehicle, rendering it inoperable.
Officers could see numerous items broken and thrown around the apartment that were consistent with a fight.
When she was asked if she had physically assaulted him or cut him with a knife, she reportedly admitted she cut him.
She minimized the assault saying: “I was holding a knife against his leg and telling him to stop when he moved quickly and I accidentally cut him.”
Police thought she was nervous as she explained the knife injury as an accident.
She explained they had recently returned to the area and she blamed Bennett for her relapse into drug use. She reportedly admitted she was currently using methamphetamine.
As they talked, she became extremely irrational and stated that she needed to leave to avoid being killed by the victim. She was advised how to get an emergency protection from abuse order, but she declined the offer.
She also refused a ride to a friend’s house, saying she would wait for him to return and “handle it herself.”
She also said: “I didn’t call you guys. If I wanted your help, I would have called you.”
Police then contacted the neighbors and asked them to call if the victim returned to the apartment. One of them stated the victim used her phone to call his mother because he said Bennett destroyed his phone.
An officer then contacted the victim’s mother to try to find him. She related that the victim told her Bennett had physically assaulted him and intentionally destroyed his cell phone.
She also stated that she had co-signed for the victim to get the apartment and Bennett was not supposed to be there.
The mother was able to forward photos of the victim’s injuries to police, which confirmed the description they had been told earlier, according to the criminal complaint.
The officers then went back to apartment to arrest her for domestic violence. Bennett yelled obscenities at them and became irate.
While she was in handcuffs, she began violently kicking items in the apartment, police said. She demanded officers review footage from a camera on the refrigerator, which she claimed had evidence of him assaulting her.
Instead, the footage reportedly showed Bennett attempting to provoke him “even raising and swinging a cooking pan near him numerous times.”
She stated that he struck her multiple times in the head and that she had been vomiting blood all day. She demanded medical attention and an ambulance was called to the scene.
While she was waiting for the ambulance in the squad car, police say she kicked the rear passenger side window cage numerous times while making threats.
Among these were threats regarding her obtaining a gun and that she “couldn’t wait for the war,” according to the report.