Woman Arrested After Allegedly Assaulting Another with Plate on July 4th Incident in Douglas

Photo byCCSO

A local woman is now in custody following an incident on July 4th when she allegedly attacked another woman by hitting her with a plate, causing numerous injuries to the victim.

According to a copy of a Douglas Police Department incident report, an officer responded to Cleveland Street on July 4th in reference to a trespassing incident.

When the officer arrived, they observed a woman holding someone down in the backseat of a vehicle. The officer stated that they asked the individuals what was going on, and one person reported that a woman identified as 23-year-old Suzie Bertagnolli of Douglas had "cut" her friend.

At that time, the victim walked up from around the vehicle, "covered in her own blood," and the officer immediately called for EMS.

The officer stated that there was a small black vehicle across the street that had turned its lights on and was in the process of leaving. The officer instructed the individuals in the vehicle not to leave so they could speak to them.

Bertagnolli, who was still at the scene, was placed in handcuffs and placed into the back of the officer's patrol vehicle.

The officer stated that as they were tending to the victim, a man in a vehicle across the street got into his vehicle and left. The officer reported that the driver of the vehicle was unknown, but the passenger in the vehicle was identified as the subject's boyfriend.

Due to her injury, the victim was not able to share many details but stated that Bertagnolli started "going crazy" and jumped into the back seat of the vehicle that was occupied by the victim and others.

A witness stated that the group continued to get in and out of the vehicle several times before Bertagnolli "grabbed a plate that was laying in the vehicle and began to hit the victim with it causing a mark on the victim's right hand pinky finger, middle finger, and forearm." There was also a very large and deep cut on the victim's left wrist.

After the victim was treated by EMS, the officer gathered everyone's information and took photos of the scene, while another officer collected and bagged the plate as evidence.

Bertagnolli was transported to the Coffee County Jail and agreed to speak to the officer.

Per the report, Bertagnolli showed the officer a photo of her boyfriend and said that she was trying to go to Circle K South and was walking toward Sibbett Street when the victim and another woman pulled up in a white pickup truck that had been "stalking" her earlier in the night. Bertagnolli claimed that one of the women got out of the truck and asked her for $20 and when she declined, the woman stated that she was going to "mess around" with Bertagnolli's boyfriend.

However, Bertagnolli then changed her story and said she was actually over by Cleveland Street "looking for weed" when the woman "pulled up and dragged her to Cleveland Street." She said that the victim then started to attack her and that she was just defending herself.

The officer followed up with witnesses and the victim at Coffee Regional Medical Center, with the woman Bertagnolli accused of dragging her reporting that Bertagnolli was walking by them and started yelling.

The woman stated that she, the victim, and a male advised Bertagnolli that she wasn't supposed to be at the residence, and Bertagnolli said that her boyfriend was seeing other people and cheating on her.

The woman told the officer that she told Bertagnolli that they did not care and that's when Bertagnolli "went crazy and started jumping in the vehicle."

As of today, Bertagnolli remains in custody on one count of aggravated assault.