ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A pick-up game of pickleball recently took a violent turn at a popular St. Johns County park.
Witnesses tell the St. Johns County Sheriff’s office that a woman assaulted a stranger she was playing with by hitting the man in the head with her paddle.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office says Michele Bannister was playing pickleball with her son at one of Treaty Park’s 20 public courts on May 31st. Tensions were already high as the arrest report states Banister had been arguing with another player when things took a turn.
Witnesses tell law enforcement Bannister hit the victim in the head multiple times with a pickleball paddle.
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Word spread fast around the St. Augustine pickleball community. Stacey Casarico works at Old Coast Pickleball. She wasn’t at the park when the incident happened, but knows many who were there, including the victim.
“That wouldn’t be the one I would pick at all to be feisty, or be someone who would have trouble coming his way at all. He’s a super nice guy,” said Stacey Casarico, who works at Old Coast Pickleball.
On top of felony assault, Bannister is also facing fraud charges as Saint Johns County deputies say she gave them a fake name and address, calling herself “Aiyanna Lei” twice before officers tracked her down and arrested her at her home.
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“I do think most of us in the community wanted to kind of understand what happened before making any judgment. I was not there, so I don’t know exactly what happened. But I do know that someone was assaulted. That’s not acceptable,” said Casarico.
Bannister is pleading not guilty. Bannister told deputies it was necessary to stop a “violent attempt” to attack her son. Although, deputies noted in their arrest report that there was no “imminent” threat to her child at the time.
Action News Jax reached out to Bannister’s attorney multiple times on Thursday. We’re still waiting to hear back.
Bannister is out on an $8,000 bond.
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