Woman pleads guilty to assault
A Butler woman charged with attacking her longtime boyfriend with a wooden statue pleaded guilty in Butler County Court on Wednesday.
Mary J. Putnam, 50, entered the guilty plea to misdemeanor simple assault before county Judge William Shaffer.
She was initially also charged with felony aggravated assault, which was dismissed as part of the plea.
The plea agreement calls for a sentence of time served to 24 months minus one day in the Butler County Prison, restitution and fines. She also will be ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation as well as a drug and alcohol evaluation.
She is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 2.
Butler City police charged Putnam after an incident at her apartment in the 200 block of West Brady Street on May 14, when they say she assaulted her boyfriend, John Hecker, with a wooden statue.
Hecker told police that Putnam is his girlfriend of eight years, according to court documents.
He recounted that when she returned to their home around 4 a.m. she apparently became upset and started throwing items, damaging the property in the process, according to court documents, before assaulting Hecker.
The alleged attack left the victim “bleeding profusely,” according to a police affidavit, with an unspecified head injury.
Putnam was arraigned and bail was set at $25,000, which was later reduced to unsecured and she was released.
