Florida Woman Told Boyfriend He Couldn’t Leave Until He Deleted Video, Then Knocked Him Out With Laptop, Police Say

Photo Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office A Florida man recorded an argument with his live-in girlfriend as he tried to leave their Clearwater apartment, and the video itself became part of the confrontation.

Christianne Costa Stephens, 57, knew he was recording and told him he wasn’t going anywhere until he deleted it, then stepped into his path as he tried to leave, according to a Clearwater Police Department arrest affidavit filed in Pinellas County court.

The argument over alleged cheating escalated from there. Her boyfriend said Stephens struck him in the head with a laptop hard enough to knock him unconscious and leave a large laceration.

When he came to, the recording had become important for another reason: he said he saw her trying to delete the videos from his phone.

The confrontation began at about 12:39 a.m. on Oct. 3 inside the apartment the couple shared. As the argument continued, the man began recording and tried to leave.

He told officers Stephens demanded that he erase the footage first and physically blocked his path, leaving him afraid that he would not be able to get out.

The laptop strike left him unconscious with what the officer described as a large laceration. At the time the paperwork was completed, the extent of any additional head injury or permanent scarring had not yet been determined.

After regaining consciousness, he said he saw Stephens working on his phone and trying to erase the footage.

Stephens did not deny that the laptop made contact with her boyfriend. She told officers she had not intended to hit him and said she was pushing the computer toward him because she wanted him to leave.

His account places him in the process of doing exactly that before the blow. He said he had already been trying to leave while Stephens stood in his way and demanded he delete the recording first.

Officer Alex Krollick prepared the arrest paperwork, and Stephens was taken into custody at 1:23 a.m.

She was booked on aggravated battery causing physical disfigurement, a second-degree felony; false imprisonment, a third-degree felony; and tampering with a witness or victim, also a third-degree felony.

The tampering count concerns the alleged effort to delete video of the domestic battery through the use of force, while the false-imprisonment count stems from preventing the man from leaving against his will.

Stephens appeared before a Pinellas County judge on Oct. 4. The court found probable cause on the charges and ordered her to have no direct or indirect contact with her boyfriend.

Bond was set at $10,000 on the aggravated battery count and $5,000 on each of the two third-degree felonies, for a total of $20,000.

All three surety bonds were posted later that day, and Pinellas County jail records show Stephens was released that afternoon.

The felony case remains open and is assigned to Section T before Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa.

All parties are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

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