ROLLA, MO – A violent dispute over a home-cooked meal ended with a woman suffering a severe neck injury and a 25-year-old man in custody, according to police and court documents detailing the incident inside a Rolla residence. Officers responding to the scene found the victim bleeding heavily from a wound that stretched across her throat after what authorities describe as a sudden and brutal altercation.
Steven Wolfe is charged with one count of assault in the first degree causing serious physical injury following the incident, which took place on March 30 at a home on October Place. Police say the victim’s name has not been released, but the details outlined in a probable cause statement describe a confrontation that escalated rapidly during dinner preparation.
An officer was dispatched to the residence just before 6 p.m. after a report that a worker at the home had been attacked by a resident. According to the charging document, dispatch “relayed there was an injury to a fresh tattoo and the parties were separated.”
Severe injuries detailed in charging documents
When officers arrived, both individuals had already been separated. The responding officer documented the victim’s condition in detail, stating, “I observed a large laceration to her throat about 3 inches tall and stretching the entire length of her throat.” The report continues, “There was a copious amount of blood, down the front of [the victim’s] chest that appeared to be drying. [The victim] was conscious and alert and advised she was not moving her neck.”
The victim told police she had been preparing dinner for Wolfe and another resident when the situation turned violent. “[The victim] stated she had cooked dinner for Wolfe and the other resident,” the probable cause statement says. “[The victim] advised Wolfe was upset and told her the macaroni and cheese she made belonged to him.”
According to the report, attempts to defuse the situation failed. “[The victim] advised she tried explaining to Wolfe that she made the dinner for him and the other resident when Wolfe grabbed her,” the document states.
Alleged attack centered on fresh tattoo
Investigators say Wolfe then physically overpowered the victim and targeted a recent tattoo on her neck. “[The victim] advised Wolfe pinned her against the wall and grabbed her throat. Wolfe then pulled the skin on [her] throat where she had just received a tattoo approximately 5 days prior. Wolfe ripped the skin from [her] neck, leaving the large laceration,” the statement reads.
Police say the assault also left the woman with scratch marks on her back and a damaged cellphone. After the attack, the victim reported she was able to escape, while Wolfe allegedly disengaged and returned to sitting at the kitchen table, where he “began playing on his tablet,” according to the probable cause statement.
Wolfe was taken into custody and is currently being held at the Phelps County Jail on a $250,000 bond. Court records show he is scheduled to appear for a hearing on April 6.
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