A Fort McCoy woman is accused of beating a man with a rowing oar during a nasty domestic spat Thursday night.
Elaine Marie O’Neill, 39, of NE 213th Place, was charged with aggravated domestic battery with a deadly weapon after the incident, which started around inside the residence and wound up in the front yard of a neighbor’s home on NE 213th Lane.
O’Neill and the victim were arguing and had to be separated when the deputy arrived at the neighbor’s house. O’Neill immediately began to yell and cry when speaking to the deputy. She appeared to have minor injuries on her face and left shoulder, according to the sheriff’s office report.
O’Neill said while they were back at their residence, she asked the victim to get out of bed to help her with the laundry. She said he had to go to the next work the next day and wouldn’t get out of bed to assist with the household duties. O’Neill said the victim went “crazy” and she was “trying to get him to stop,” the report said.
When asked what she meant by trying to get the victim to stop, O’Neill said she ran out of the house and started to run down the road. She said he was getting in the vehicle to leave when she tried to stop him. O’Neill said he got out of the vehicle and started to run eastbound on NE 213th Lane, according to the report.
While speaking with the deputy, O’Neill kept saying, “He didn’t hit me and I didn’t hit me.” She was extremely loud and disorderly while the deputy was trying to investigate, the report said.
The victim said he was laying in bed at the residence when O’Neill came into the room and was trying to get the TV to work. He said she threw the remote control at his head. The victim said they got into a verbal argument and he tried to leave the residence in the vehicle, according to the report.
The victim said O’Neill jumped into the passenger seat and continued to yell. He said she tried to bite him, and he got out of the vehicle and tried to run away. The victim said when he got to the incident location, O’Neill started to wrestle with him and was trying to strike him. He said she then picked up a green plastic rowing oar and started striking him with it. The deputy observed visible injuries on the victim’s head and torso, the report said.
The victim said while O’Neill was striking him with the rowing oar, she accidentally struck a child with it. The child, whose identity and relationship to the couple was redacted from the report, had a visible knot on his head from the strike, according to the report.
The witness who lives at the incident location said the victim and O’Neill ran into his front yard and started to argue. He said the victim kept yelling for him to call the police because O’Neill was striking him. The witness said O’Neill was trying to wrestle with the victim and the victim was trying to run away from her, the report said.
The witness said O’Neill fell on the front porch and got back up. He said she then grabbed the oar and started striking the victim with it. The witness said the victim got away and started banging on his door to let him in, but he didn’t want to open the door for his own safety. He said the victim was able to restrain O’Neill until law enforcement arrived, according to the report.
O’Neill was taken to the Marion County Jail without further incident. She was released Friday on her own recognizance and is scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on Nov. 17.