In a dilapidated trailer park in Clark County Washington, 37-year-old Michelle Hawn seized a dirt devil upright vacuum cleaner and attacked Todd Proetel, her 41-year-old boyfriend, fracturing his skull and leaving him unconscious in a pool of blood. Hawn then ran out of the house crying, telling neighbors “Todd beat me up.” Hawn is 5’6″ tall and weighs 210 pounds.
Ms. Hawn, who is currently being held on $100,000 bond on suspicion of first-degree domestic violence assault, has a history of emotional instability and substance abuse. She admitted to striking the man, and was intoxicated when police arrived on the scene. Police noted that despite her claim that he “beat her up,” she had no visible injuries or evidence of past assaults.
Hawn is unemployed and living on disability.
The story has been picked up internationally as a “humorous” news item, probably because one does not often think of a vacuum cleaner as a deadly weapon. However, Mr. Proetel, who is recovering from critical injuries, probably doesn’t think it is all that funny.
