A 43-year-old Groveland woman is accused of strangling another woman during an argument that started when the victim wouldn’t let her use her cell phone.
A witness told a Groveland police officer she was talking with the victim in the living room on Saturday morning when Shayla Talesha Rodgers came from the backroom with an attitude wanting to use the victim’s phone. The victim told Rodgers she was trying to show the witness something on her phone and she would let Rodgers use it when she was done, according to the police report.
The witness said Rodgers then got into the victim’s face, punched her several times, placed her hands around the victim’s neck and started choking her. The victim kept saying she couldn’t breathe but Rodgers wouldn’t stop until the victim started having an asthma attack. The witness said Rodgers then removed her hands from the victim’s neck and went into her room, the report said.
The victim was examined by EMS and declined to go to the hospital. Rodgers, who was previously charged with battery in 2006, was charged with battery by strangulation and taken to the Lake County Jail, where she posted $2,000 bond and was released. Rodgers is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on Feb. 6.
