A Leesburg woman was arrested after allegedly chasing her roommate with a knife during a dispute over bills.
Heather Nicole Hersh, of 1116 E. Main St., was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill after the incident, which happened Thursday night outside her residence.
It’s Hersh’s second arrest in 2021. She was charged in February with disorderly intoxication and disorderly conduct, according to Lake County Jail records.
Leesburg Police responded around 9:54 p.m. to a report of a woman chasing another woman down the street with a knife. They found Hersh and the victim outside the residence, according to the police report.
The victim said she and Hersh have been roommates off and on for about two months. She said the two got into an argument over how expensive the bills are. The victim said Hersh started threatening telling her she was going to beat her up, the report said.
The victim said as the argument escalated, she was standing outside and Hersh was on the front steps yelling back at her. She said Hersh ran back into the house and grabbed two knives and stood at the door threatening her with them, according to the report.
The victim said she was standing in the front yard with her 5-month-old baby in her arms when Hersh pointed the knives at her and started running towards her. She said she Hersh responded by running into the street, which is when the 911 call came in, the report said.
After getting statements from the victim and her boyfriend, the officer spoke with Hersh, who couldn’t provide a straight story. Hersh couldn’t give any details and would only say it was a verbal argument. She said she got the knives for her own protection and never chased the victim and her baby with them. Asked at the end of the interview where the knives were, Hersh said she put them back in the kitchen before the officer arrived, according to the report.
Hersh became verbally abusive with officers while she was being placed under arrest. She was taken to the Lake County Jail, where she remained Friday on $4,000 bond. Hersh will appear in Lake County Court on June 1.
