DICKINSON, Texas — Although a Dickinson woman admitted burning a bar patron in the eye with a cigarette, she said she did so in self-defense.
Dickinson police arrested Misty E. Ford, 35, on a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, stemming from a Saturday morning incident at 517 Bar, 3401 Interstate 45. She was released from jail on a $30,000 bond.
Ford was dancing with a man at the bar when the man’s girlfriend made him leave with her, Dickinson police Sgt. James D. Johnson said in a statement.
Police, after speaking with witnesses, including bar management, accused Ford of attacking a friend of the man’s girlfriend.
After seeing an article on the arrest published Sunday in The Daily News, Ford called the newspaper, saying she wanted to tell her side of the story.
Ford said she went to the bar and sat close to the stage to see the live band, didn’t dance with anyone but her father and has no idea why one woman attacked her inside.
"She’s the one who threw me to the floor of the bar, twice," Ford said.
Ford said she paid her tab and was prepared to drive away from the bar. The bartender ordered Ford outside. Ford then lit a cigarette, waiting on the bartender to bring her purse and keys.
Ford said three women, including the one she’d previously had a dispute with inside, then attacked her outside the bar.
"By this time, I’m about to suffocate," Ford said. "They’re wailing on my head."
Ford said she burned one of the women with a cigarette in an attempt to stop a beating.
"I didn’t mean to hurt her, but I wanted to make her stop," Ford said.
When police arrived, the officer handcuffed Ford and put her in a patrol car while interviewing witnesses. Ford said none of the officers asked her for her side of the story.
Dickinson police Capt. Jay Jaekel disagreed, saying Ford spoke to officers and was apparently too intoxicated to perform a field sobriety test.
"She never claimed to us she was a victim," Jaekel said.
This story was brought to you thanks to khou.com’s partnership with The Galveston County Daily News.
