A 71-year-old Burnsville woman hit her husband in the head with a hammer and tried to strangle him with a telephone cord because she had “had it,” according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday, Feb. 21.

Sharon Ripka was charged in Dakota County District Court with attempted domestic assault by strangulation, terroristic threats and interfering with a 911 call.

According to the complaint, police were called to the Burnsville home Ripka shares with her husband about 8:15 a.m. Monday. Ripka had called them, saying her husband had assaulted her and she had hit him with a hammer, the complaint said.

Ripka met police at the door, her clothing and hands covered with blood. The husband appeared, staggering and also covered with blood, and with a “telephone cord wrapped tightly around his neck,” the complaint said, also noting the man had a large bruise on his scalp.

The husband, identified only as “L.R.” in the complaint, said Ripka “went nuts” because he was still in bed at 8 a.m. and had struck him with a telephone and hammer; tried to strangle him with the phone cord; and wiped excrement on his face with toilet paper.

The husband said he believed his wife suffered from dementia, though she had never been diagnosed because she refused to go to a doctor, the complaint said.

A person who apparently knows the couple showed up at the home and told police the couple “argue and fight on a regular basis,” but he was not aware of any history of domestic abuse.

The person also told police that Ripka had called him and told him she had hit her husband with a hammer because she had “had it,” the complaint said.

Ripka did not give a statement to police, the complaint said. She was in the Dakota County Jail on Thursday night.

Call Tad Vezner at 651-228-5461 or follow him on Twitter @SPnoir.