Who is Jamela Chatman? Ohio woman beats friend with hammer in front of her kids, brags online
YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO: A mother has revealed how her former friend cut her off in traffic, dragged her from her car, and beat her with a hammer in front of her children. The suspect is said to have bragged about it later on Facebook.
Twenty seven-year-old Jamel Chatman was booked into the Mahoning County jail on one count of aggravated robbery before being arraigned in a municipal court on Monday, August 16. The victim, identified as Autumn Hines, told responding officers on Saturday, August 14, that she was driving with her five-year-old twins in the car when Chatman cut her off and forced her to stop. She then got out of the vehicle, ran to the victim's vehicle, pulled her out, and began beating her with her fists and a hammer in front of her children.
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Speaking to WFMJ-TV, Hines said she had told her former friend Chatman to move from her residence because she wasn't on the lease that was arranged via a YMCA program. The victim recounted how the Saturday episode unfolded and how she was assaulted in full view of her kids.
"So the police came back around 30 minutes later, I was gushing blood, but my adrenaline was rushing so bad I didn't even know," Hines said. She also alleged that Chatman stole the keys to her car during the altercation, adding that she cannot drive to work because she cannot afford to purchase another set of keys for the vehicle.
Chatman reportedly made a Facebook Live video bragging about assaulting Hines and threatening her further. When she was arrested at her home, authorities recovered a hammer and a shoe that matched a shoe she had left in the victim's car during the assault.
That said, a judge eventually set Chatman's bond for charges of robbery and felonious assault at $19,000 cash or surety. The accused has pled not guilty to the charges.
Hines, who sustained cuts on her arm and her scalp but declined medical attention, says she has had a continuous headache since the altercation. "You turn around and do it in front of my kids. Yes, I'm hurt. Yes, I'm mad," she explained. "I want her to pay for what you put me through, the mental stress, the emotional stress with me and my kids."
Despite the bizarre incident in Ohio, it is not the only recent incident of assault on the road involving a hammer. Police in King County, Washington, shared a video on July 27 showing the driver of a Jeep alighting their vehicle and throwing a hammer at another vehicle in a shocking episode of road rage. The driver was subsequently arrested and slapped with multiple felony charges in Snohomish County, Washington.
"Road rage is real, especially when some whacked-out driver throws a hammer at your windshield," the King County Sheriff's Office noted in a Facebook post.