Geraldine Combs, 43, formerly of Arnold, has been charged with three felonies for allegedly attacking an 85-year-old man at his home in the Bayshore subdivision, stabbing him and hitting him with the claw end of a hammer, Arnold Police report.
The victim was seriously hurt and taken to an area hospital for treatment, but it looks like he’ll recover, Detective Lt. James Jones said.
At about 2:10 p.m. April 14, Arnold Police got a call that Combs, who currently lives in St. Louis County, was driving a Camaro around Airglades Drive “in a dangerous manner.” The woman nearly hit fences and other objects, Jones said.
An officer who was searching the area for the woman, spotted her vehicle, which was unoccupied, in the 3300 block of Boca Raton. When the officer got out of his patrol vehicle, he heard “screams for help coming from the home,” Arnold Police reported.
The officer went to the home and allegedly found the woman “repeatedly striking” the man.
Combs was “belligerent, screaming and yelling,” but officers were able to take her into custody and called for medical attention for the victim, the report said.
The man was admitted at a hospital, where he was treated for stab wounds and other injuries, including bruises and contusions,” according to the report.
“I called today, and his daughter said he’s going to be OK, but he’s going to need some rehab,” Jones said. “He was messed up pretty bad. I believe that if it had not been for the officer getting out of his vehicle, he wouldn’t have heard the screams, and the woman would have beaten (the victim) to death.”
Jones said the victim told officers that he was outside his house planting flowers and the woman approached him and ordered him inside his house, and when he refused, she struck him with the hammer, forcing him inside, the report said.
The victim also said the woman stabbed him with a letter opener, but officers aren’t sure what object she used, Jones said.
“There were garden tools and other objects lying around,” he said.
The victim fought back during the attack, and Combs had some “minor facial injuries, but she refused medical treatment, the report said.
Jones said it doesn’t appear the victim knew Combs and police have not figured out a motive for the alleged attack.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Combs on April 14 with one count of first-degree assault, a class A felony; first-degree burglary, a class B felony; and armed criminal action, an unclassified felony.
The class A felony carries a penalty of 10 to 30 years or life in prison, the class B felony is punishable by five to 15 years in prison and the armed criminal action carries a minimum three-year sentence.
Combs, also formerly of Imperial, was being held today (April 17) in the Jefferson County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
She has several previous felony convictions, including ones for forgery and stealing, court records show.