BAY CITY, MI — Already charged with a felony after allegedly slicing up a man in a dispute over squash, a woman has racked up a new charge for reportedly slapping a Bay County Jail employee.

According to police reports contained in court records, corrections officers were having 32-year-old inmate Linda M. Childs moved to another cellblock on Wednesday, Oct. 1. One of the officers told Childs to move her tote and Childs refused, saying she couldn't lift more than 5 pounds, court record show.

The officer told Childs that the jail is not a hotel and that he was not going to carry her tote for her, court records show.

A female officer, hoping to ease the situation, intervened and told Childs she could push the tote rather than lift it, court records show. At that point, Childs slapped the officer on the left side of her face, court records show.

The officers then took Childs to the ground and handcuffed her. As this occurred, Childs urinated on the floor, court records show.

Investigators later interviewed Childs, who told them she "got in a fight with a girl cop." Childs spoke in a child-like tone, sobbing during the interview, court records show.

"I saw a vein in her neck and I thought she was going to hit me," Childs told investigators, "so I hit her."

Childs on Thursday, Oct. 16, was arraigned in Bay County District Court on one count of assaulting a jail or prison employee. The charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $2,500 fine.

Childs was in jail in the first place as she was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, a four-year felony, on Monday, Sept. 22. That charge stems from an incident that happened the evening of Friday, Sept. 19, when police and firefighters responded to 99 E. Center Road in Hampton Township for a report of a man suffering a knife wound. They arrived to find blood on the floor of an enclosed porch, leading into the home's kitchen, court records show.

Resident Donald L. Gillard Jr., 42, had an approximately 2 1/2-inch long wound on his left forearm, according to police reports. He said that he was upstairs when he heard Childs and another resident, Joseph Haranda, arguing in the first floor kitchen. On three occasions, he went downstairs and told Childs to stop berating Haranda for the manner in which he was preparing some squash to eat, Gillard told police.

On that third time, Childs grabbed a knife and Gillard retreated, according to court records. He attempted to close a door between them when Childs delivered the wound to his arm, he said.

Haranda and other people in the house gave similar accounts. Haranda said he was slicing squash in the kitchen and Childs grew impatient and complained about how he was doing it, police reports show. Haranda said he cut a slice of the gourd and gave it to Childs, but she then became even more agitated and got in Haranda's face, he said.

It was then that Gillard intervened and was subsequently wounded, the witnesses told police.

Childs told police she didn't know what happened and denied any wrongdoing. She said she had ridden a bus to Bay County from Florida in August and was planning on moving on to Muskegon, court records show.

At her arraignment on the initial charge, Childs indicated she had mental health issues.

"What are you treating for?" Bay County District Judge Timothy J. Kelly asked.

"I don't know," she said, appearing in the courtroom from the Bay County Jail via closed-circuit television.

"What medication are you on?" the judge asked.

"I'm not sure," Childs replied. She then said she hasn't taken her medication in a year.

Childs is to appear for a preliminary examination at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 30.