Who is Judy Kline? Hammer-wielding 'Karen' who harassed family for a YEAR is finally charged
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI: A St Louis woman who threatened while wielding a hammer at a Hispanic family was charged with multiple offenses. The harassment was going on for a year as "Karen" who goes by the name Judy Kline, would often come to their door, damage property, and even steal their mail, according to victim Fatima Suarez.
Kline was caught red-handed on ring camera while hurling racist remarks at the Suarez family. "It scared my family. It scared me," Fatima Suarez said according to Daily Mail. "I've cried. It was really stressful to see her keep coming back."
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It wasn't until Fatima posted the video on her TikTok account, the authorities decided to take action against it. The video has since surpassed more than 7 million views.
What are the charges against Judy Kline?
"I've seen similar stories on TikTok going on, and I thought maybe that would help my family out as well," she told ABC News. "But I never knew it would blow up like that, and it did. So I'm thankful for everybody that made it viral because now [there's] going to be hopefully action taken."
The St Louis Circuit attorney charged Judy Kline with burglary, property damage, and unlawful use of a weapon after elevating a warrant application related to the case on Tuesday, February 7.
What did Judy Kline do?
In one of the five YouTube videos which are uploaded on Suraez's channel, Kline can be seen wielding a hammer and continuously ringing the doorbell. Kline referred to the Mexican-American family's residence as "my home" at several points in the video and abuses them. "What the hell are you doing in my home? Get out b****! Get out! It's my home!," she shouted. Suarez says that she is grateful that social media helped her to spread the word.
According to a probable cause statement, Kline's first recorded visit to the house was on January 5, 2022. While Suarez's father and his then 4-year-old sister were inside, Kline went behind the house and broke in through the basement door with a hammer. The woman smashed the glass door of the family's clothes dryer and insulted Suarez's father with the hammer in her hand.
Suarez says that the pestering continued even after she was arrested that day and charged with aggravated burglary and property damage. "I always call the cops, and all the times that I call them, they only kept her for like 72 hours and then she was released," Suarez claimed. "That's why she had the opportunity to keep coming back."
Fatima Suarez says they are still not sure that Kline will refrain from doing such activities as the St Louis PD noted that Kline is not in their custody. "The CAO has elevated the warrant application related to this case, and is awaiting the video evidence that was not initially submitted, and that is now circulating on the Internet", Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner's office said in a statement.
Suarez's dreams of working in law enforcement have turned sour as the police hardly took any action on the matter despite sending multiple videos of intrusions to the cops. "At one point, I wanted to become part of the justice system, like a cop or something," she said, "but because of how they are with other people, how they treat other people, how they don't care about cases. … I don't really trust them as much anymore."