A Florida mom allegedly turned a pickleball dispute bloody after another player criticized her son’s game.
Michele Bannister, 47, is accused of striking a male opponent in the head multiple times with her paddle during a May 31 match at Treaty Park in St. Augustine, Fla., according to an affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
The incident began with a disagreement over retrieving a ball but escalated after the match ended, when the man allegedly approached Bannister’s son to critique his playing style.
Bannister then allegedly stepped into the confrontation.
Police said the family nurse practitioner hit the man with her paddle, leaving him with several bloody cuts to his face.
Bannister later told authorities she was defending her son, but investigators said they found no imminent threat that would justify the alleged attack, according to the affidavit.
Nearby player Pam Hatch, known as “Pickleball Pam,” said she rushed over to help the injured man after the incident.
“She probably got in six good whacks with the side of the paddle,” Hatch told Action News JAX.
Hatch said there was blood around the scene as she helped the man with a towel.
“There was blood kind of all over the place,” she told the outlet. “I was helping the victim ring out the towel because it was a bloody mess.”
When deputies arrived, Bannister allegedly gave them a false name, identifying herself as “Aiyanna Lei,” according to the affidavit.
Authorities said they later figured out her real identity after she provided her home address.
Bannister pled not guilty to aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and giving false identification to law enforcement.
Her attorney, Rosemarie Peoples, pushed back on the charges and said Bannister was protecting her son.
“Michele Bannister is a mom, nurse, and model citizen,” Peoples told St. Johns Citizen.
“She is wrongly accused of a crime; her actions were needed to stop a violent attempt to attack her young son,” the lawyer said.
Bannister was released after posting an $8,000 bond and is due back in court July 28.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
