A man in Florida has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after he stabbed a woman outside of a Walgreens twice in the back simply because he “wanted to,” according to sheriff’s deputies.
The woman also had a “serration mark” on her right arm, according to an arrest affidavit from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office reviewed by Law&Crime on Wednesday.
The incident occurred around 2 p.m. on Nov. 26 when Kenneth Bryan, 34, started to approach a woman at a Walgreens parking lot in Naples.
Records show that the woman, who was not identified in records, tried to walk quickly away from Bryan to her car but he managed to catch up to her and stab her “twice in the back with one [blow] landing in the upper, middle of her back (wound 1) and the second in the lower right area of her back (wound 2).” She also had a “dark, red serration mark” on the inside of her right bicep, the affidavit said.
The woman told deputies she thought she was being “punched” at first and didn’t realize she was stabbed until she saw blood coming from the first wound.
According to Orlando Fox affiliate WRBW, deputies said when they asked Bryan why he attacked the woman, he simply replied: “Because I wanted to.”
A serrated knife was recovered on the scene. It was broken into two pieces.
Officials said the woman declined medical care at a local hospital but was treated in the parking lot.
Walgreens exterior from October 2023 (photo by Alexandra Buxbaum/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images). Inset: Kenneth Bryan booking photo (via Collier County Sheriff’s Office.)
Court records show Bryan has a criminal record dating back years. In 2014, he was charged with battery after touching and striking another person against their will; in 2021 he was charged again with battery as well as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and intent to kill. This March, Bryan was charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or emergency services technician as well as resisting an officer with violence.
It was a Walgreens employee who reported the incident to law enforcement, records show. When officers learned it was Bryant at the store, deputies noted employees were familiar with him and that he was “autistic.”
He must appear in court in Collier County on Dec. 18 to face this latest aggravated battery with a deadly weapon charge. His bond was revoked on Sunday and he remains detained at the Naples Jail Center.
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