Inset: Laylani Sullivan (Polk County Sheriff”s Office). Background: The residence where Sullivan allegedly attacked her husband in Polk City, Fla. (Google Maps).
A woman from Florida found herself behind bars last month following a public altercation with her spouse that escalated into violence against both him and the police, local authorities reported.
Laylani Sullivan, aged 24, faces several charges including domestic violence battery by strangulation, battery on a firefighter, resisting an officer with violence, and resisting an officer without violence, as per records from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident occurred on the morning of October 15 when deputies were called to a domestic disturbance at a home on Cypress Trails Drive in Polk City, a small town situated about 40 miles southwest of Orlando.
According to a criminal complaint affidavit sourced by Law&Crime, the defendant’s husband described how an argument with his wife turned physical. He claimed that Sullivan was “highly intoxicated” and began yelling and swearing at him.
The argument’s specifics weren’t detailed in the charging document, but police indicated it started verbally before becoming physical.
Upon the deputies’ arrival, the husband alleged that Sullivan had choked him by pressing on his neck until he was unable to breathe, as noted in the affidavit.
“You might ask, ‘How drunk did she get?’” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd asked out loud in a Facebook video recounting the incident posted this week. “Oh brother, she got rip-roaring drunk. Took off every bit of her clothes. When we found her she was in the front yard of the house after biting and slapping around her husband who dialed 911. So, we tried to arrest her. And she didn’t like that at all.”
At some point, a female sheriff’s deputy attempted to help the defendant put clothes on, Judd said. Those efforts were apparently not welcome. Sullivan, at that point, allegedly fought the deputy.
The affidavit contains a similar narrative:
While attempting to take Laylani into custody, Laylani became very angry and aggressive and was actively tugging and pulling away while I was trying to lift her up off the ground and place her into handcuffs. I gave Laylani multiple Lawful Commands to stop pulling away and put her hands behind her back. Polk County Fire and Rescue arrived on scene due to Laylani being in the ditch with no clothes on. Once out of the ditch Laylani was swinging her arms at deputies and EMS after I told her to stop swinging her arms multiple times.
Then, while the deputy was putting clothes on the defendant with the help of a female firefighter, Sullivan attacked the firefighter, “by means of striking [her] in the chest,” according to the affidavit.
Judd ended his commentary with something not entirely unlike a public service announcement about alcohol consumption.
“How much do you have to drink – alcohol that is – to rip off all your clothes, slap your husband around, bite him, and then lay down in the front yard? I can’t answer that. But Laylani can.”
Sullivan is currently being detained in the Polk County Jail on $16,000 bond. She is slated to appear in court for her arraignment on Nov. 18.
