Inset: Christianne Stephens (Pinellas County Jail via WTVT). Background: Apartment in the 1900 block of Cleveland Street in Clearwater, Florida, where Stephens allegedly hit her boyfriend with a laptop (Google Maps).
A 57-year-old Florida woman allegedly hit her boyfriend so hard with a laptop during an argument over cheating allegations that she knocked him out.
Christianne Stephens is facing charges of aggravated battery, false imprisonment and tampering with a witness, court records say.
The incident occurred Saturday at a waterfront high-rise apartment in the 1900 block of Cleveland Street in Clearwater. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by local Fox affiliate WTVT and CBS affiliate WTSP, the victim and Stephens started fighting about “alleged cheating in the relationship.”
The boyfriend reportedly started recording the incident on his phone and tried to leave the apartment to defuse the situation. But Stephens blocked him and struck him in the head with a laptop, the affidavit said.
He lost consciousness and suffered a large laceration on the head, the affidavit said. When he regained consciousness, he allegedly saw Stephens trying to delete the videos he recorded of the incident.
Cops said they were still trying to determine whether the victim suffered permanent scarring or long-term injuries.
Stephens later reportedly told police that she would not let her boyfriend leave the apartment without deleting the videos first. She also allegedly admitted to hitting him in the head with the laptop, but claimed she did not mean to do so.
She reportedly said she was just pushing the computer toward him to get him to leave.
Police arrested Stephens and took her to the Pinellas County Jail, where she has since posted a $20,000 bond. Her next court date was not immediately listed.
