Turns out she has a second bite at the cherry.
A Florida nurse who choked an Uber driver from behind and sank her teeth into his neck as he drove her home has avoided jail time for the shocking unprovoked attack.
Michele Stilwell, 55, was sentenced to 18 months probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of battery and disorderly conduct in a plea deal, according to court records cited by The Smoking Gun. She had originally been charged with aggravated battery and tampering with a witness, both felonies.
Stilwell, a registered nurse in Florida since 1996, was also fined $850, ordered to have no contact with 23-year-old victim Michael Hassey Jr., and required to undergo a mental health evaluation.
(Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office/WFLA8)
Hassey, then 22, was driving his Uber in St. Petersburg, near Tampa, on a Saturday afternoon in mid-April when he picked up Stilwell to take her home.
According to Hassey, his passenger fell asleep in the back seat but then suddenly woke up and lunged at him.
While the car was moving, the nurse “reached forward and proceeded to choke the victim from behind” with both her hands wrapped around his neck, according to a criminal complaint.
As Hassey pulled over the car to try to get away, Stilwell “managed to crawl forward onto the center console … and bite the victim deeply on the neck drawing blood.” She “continued to bite, strangle and claw at the victim, who was unable to defend himself,” police said in their arrest report.
Photos taken by witnesses who intervened once the car had stopped show a crazed Stilwell ending up sprawled across the driver’s seat.
In video of the incident posted to Twitter, the nurse curses and screams “My daughter!” as bystanders plead with her to remove her hands from Hassey’s neck.
Court documents do not cite a motive for the attack although arresting officers noted that Stilwell appeared to be under the influence of alcohol.
Stilwell’s neighbors told local news station WFLA8 at the time that the attack was out of character for her.
I hope she is banned from Lyft too!!
Me too. What a loon
What no mandatory no drinking attached to the probation or how about rehab or something because I am familiar with blackout drunks and she is a classic class. I wouldn’t want her as my nurse either! This is Florida? Well there you go! That’s for sure! I hope this kid sues her, not for greed – but these people have to be taught a lesson. I bet she is a closet drunk too, based on neighbors, Her daughter bares some responsibility here too. You don’t think she knows her mothers personality? Of course she does. She put her mom in… Read more »
Marian, I couldn’t agree more! She is a prime example of a “blackout alcoholic”, obviously a closet drunk if her neighbors think this behavior was atypical, and her daughter? Firstly, who goes to the bar and gets this intoxicated before noon? She should have at least shared the ride with her mother to make sure nothing bad happened. And as for the “justice” that was meted out, there was none. This young man could have and should have defended himself, he had the camera as evidence. He could be heard telling bystanders who tried to restrain her “it’s fine, it’s… Read more »
Exactly! It’s disturbing that spectators just recorded and tried to scold her like a child, telling her to “Stop” instead of physically removing her from the car or at the very least, restraining her so the driver could escape. I hope her employers and patients saw the video and she loses her license. She had no excuse to strangle, claw, bite and maul a driver in a moving vehicle. A lawsuit may be the only way for the victim to get justice seeing the prosecutor granted a sweetheart plea deal (which amounted to a slap on the wrist).
Nobody would be at fault for doing whatever it took physically to make the insane woman cease her attack. I don’t understand why people filmed and tried to scold her like a puppy telling “Stop!”, Instead of just opening the door and dragging her out or restraining her by force to let the driver escape. It’s clear she is psychotic and hopefully her employers (present and future) saw this attack and fired her.
White privilege. She should have done some jail time.
i dont like when people call it white privilege! thats racist! the reason i think is because 1st she made a pleadeal probably paying the victim money. and 2nd she is old. 3rd she has a mental problem wich is the biggest reason she got away. dont make everything about race. it just shows how ignorant and uneducated you are. ignorance like you is what actually creates racism in the first place think about that!
Dont forget white women live on easy mode in general.
Not white privilege… (idiot) that doesn’t exist. It’s woman privilege.