Contributed Photo/Courtesy GCSO: Evelyn Young was booked into jail on assault and disorderly conduct charges after allegedly assaulting the same person on consecutive days.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – philosopher George Santayana
By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – Perhaps Evelyn Young, 43, is not well versed in the writings of George Santayana, or perhaps Safford officers are more aptly aware of the idiom “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Whatever the reason, Young was arrested and booked into jail on assault and disorderly conduct charges Friday, Aug. 24, after allegedly assaulting the same man for the second time in consecutive days.
Young, who has an extensive criminal history regarding assault, criminal trespass, disorderly conduct, and consuming liquor in public charges, initially drew the attention of police on Thursday, Aug. 23, after witnesses reported seeing a woman fighting with a man along U.S. Highway 70.
At about 6:54 p.m. on Thursday, officers located Young and a man identified as Walter Nelee fighting in front of Little Caesars Pizza at 1547 W. U.S. Highway 70. According to a Safford Police report, an officer witnessed Young strike Nelee in his face.
Despite Nelee having a laceration on his nose and blood on his face, he denied anything happened and advised he didn’t wish for any charges to be filed. The officer reported Nelee appeared to be intoxicated.
The couple was split up and Young was told to not meet up with Nelee again that night.
The next day, however, officers were dispatched at 4:28 p.m. to the area of the Dairy Queen at 807 W. Thatcher Blvd. regarding a fight in progress and an unconscious man in the roadway.
Upon arrival, the officer located an Arizona Department of Corrections employee restraining Young on the ground while a second witness was directing traffic around the unconscious man, later identified as Nelee.
The corrections officer advised he was driving by the area when he saw Nelee strike Young in her face as they were walking on the sidewalk. He said Young retaliated by knocking Nelee to the ground and then proceeded to stand over him and kick him repeatedly and stomp on his head while he was lying on the asphalt of the roadway. The corrections officer then stopped his vehicle and tackled Young and held her at bay until Safford officers arrived and took her into custody. The second witness who was directing traffic also reported seeing Young knock Nelee to the ground and kick him in the head while he was down on the asphalt.
Paramedics from Lifeline Ambulance arrived and transported Nelee to Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center for treatment. The officer responded to the hospital to gather a statement from Nelee. However, due to either his injuries or apparent intoxication, Nelee was unable to speak.
Young had no vocal issues and spewed out a slew of expletives on her way to jail, where she was then booked on the above-listed charges. She has a pretrial conference hearing on the charges set for Sept. 5. The officer also issued a citation to Nelee for assault and disorderly conduct for his actions as well.
