Officers from the Covington Police Departmentwere called to Pineneedle Drive Wednesday afternoon regarding a fight in progress. When they arrived, they reportedly found a woman beating a man in the middle of the road
Reports indicate that when officers pulled up they noticed a crowd of about 15 people — men, women and children — surrounding a man who was laying in the middle of the street, his arms raised as if protecting himself. They also noticed a women they allegedly knew as Shantica "Tink" Banks, holding what appeared to be a broken wooden broom handle or stick and hitting the man with it. It took officers turning on their lights and sirens to break up the crowd of onlookers and to get Banks to drop her wooden stick. When she did that, the man got up from the road and walked into the yard of a residence.
Officers began speaking with Banks and she reportedly told them that the victim and her 13-year-old son had been in a verbal and physical altercation moments earlier. According to reports, she allegedly told officers that the two were fighting over "some name-calling" and she became involved in the altercation at the request of her juvenile son. She reportedly told officers that she grabbed a stick and knocked the victim to the ground and struck him in defense of her son. The juvenile allegedly corroborated his mother's statement.
The 13-year-old had minor swelling to the back of his head from where he had been pushed to the ground, according to reports, but did not require medical treatment.
After speaking with the teen, officers then spoke with Banks' other son who allegedly backed up his mother's version of events. Also, it was found that he had been struck in the eye during the struggle, causing a small cut.
When officers spoke with the man who had been being beaten in the street he reportedly told them he had been in a verbal and physical altercation with the 13-year-old but only after the juvenile attempted to attack him with a steak knife. He allegedly told officers that he simply pushed the boy to the ground and away from him to avoid being struck.
He also told officers that when he got outside he was once again attacked, this time by Banks and her older son, according to reports. He reportedly denied causing the cut on the older sons eye and said that Banks had done it herself when she accidentally struck her son with the stick while attacking him.
