Deep Ellum News
Police file charge against Dallas woman beaten by Deep Ellum bartender
UPDATE 4-3-2019: Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot has declined to prosecute the charge against L'Daijohnique Lee. According to WFAA, the Dallas County District Attorney's Office said they didn't feel it was proper to pursue a case against a victim during an active case against her attacker.
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A woman who was the victim of an assault in Deep Ellum now has charges filed against her for causing damage to her attacker's pickup truck.
L'Daijohnique Lee, 24, has been charged with felony criminal mischief, according to a Dallas Police Department press conference on April 2.
Lee was beaten on March 21 by Austin Shuffield, a bartender at a Deep Ellum club, after a confrontation in a parking lot which was captured on video by a witness.
Shuffield was initially arrested for Public Intoxication, Interference with an Emergency Call, and Assault. One week later, after the DPD concluded its investigation into the assault, the charges were escalated to aggravated assault charges with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony.
Lee was charged for causing damage to Shuffield's pickup truck after she was punched.
Deputy Chief Thomas Castro said that Lee admitted to causing the damage "on three different occasions" the night of the offense. The damage was estimated to be over $3,000; according to Texas law, criminal mischief is a state jail felony if the damage is over $2,500.
At the press conference, Castro said that the police understood that "some people are upset," and that it was not the intention of the police department to pick one side or the other.
"We simply had other information that was provided to us ... and we investigated that offense and we took the action that we've taken today," he said. "I understand that we are not going to make everybody happy today with this. But we've got to take into account every citizen that we serve."
