Inset: Laylani Sullivan (Polk County Sheriff”s Office). Background: The residence where Sullivan allegedly attacked her husband in Polk City, Fla. (Google Maps).
A Florida woman was arrested last month after a fully-nude marital spat in public view that ended in bouts of violence against spouse and law enforcement alike, Sunshine State authorities say.
Laylani Sullivan, 24, stands accused of one count each of domestic violence battery by strangulation, battery on a firefighter, resisting an officer with violence, and resisting an officer without violence, according to Polk County Sheriff’s Office records.
On the morning of Oct. 15, deputies responded to domestic battery call at a residence on Cypress Trails Drive in Polk City – a small town located roughly 40 miles southwest of Orlando.
There, the defendant’s husband said the two had been arguing when the dispute went up a notch, courtesy of his wife, according to a criminal complaint affidavit obtained by Law&Crime. The alleged victim said Sullivan was “very intoxicated and started screaming cursing at him.”
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The nature of the argument is not revealed in the charging document; law enforcement say the dispute was initially verbal before escalating.
When deputies arrived, the alleged victim said his wife also intentionally choked him by applying pressure to his neck to the point “he could not breathe,” according to the affidavit.
“You might ask, ‘How drunk did she get?'” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd asked out loud in a Facebook video recounting the incident posted this week. “Oh brother, she got rip-roaring drunk. Took off every bit of her clothes. When we found her she was in the front yard of the house after biting and slapping around her husband who dialed 911. So, we tried to arrest her. And she didn’t like that at all.”
At some point, a female sheriff’s deputy attempted to help the defendant put clothes on, Judd said. Those efforts were apparently not welcome. Sullivan, at that point, allegedly fought the deputy.
The affidavit contains a similar narrative:
While attempting to take Laylani into custody, Laylani became very angry and aggressive and was actively tugging and pulling away while I was trying to lift her up off the ground and place her into handcuffs. I gave Laylani multiple Lawful Commands to stop pulling away and put her hands behind her back. Polk County Fire and Rescue arrived on scene due to Laylani being in the ditch with no clothes on. Once out of the ditch Laylani was swinging her arms at deputies and EMS after I told her to stop swinging her arms multiple times.
Then, while the deputy was putting clothes on the defendant with the help of a female firefighter, Sullivan attacked the firefighter, “by means of striking [her] in the chest,” according to the affidavit.
Judd ended his commentary with something not entirely unlike a public service announcement about alcohol consumption.
“How much do you have to drink – alcohol that is – to rip off all your clothes, slap your husband around, bite him, and then lay down in the front yard? I can’t answer that. But Laylani can.”
Sullivan is currently being detained in the Polk County Jail on $16,000 bond. She is slated to appear in court for her arraignment on Nov. 18.
