GULFPORT

Garden gnome used in attack, police say

A domestic dispute that involved yelling and thrown household items ended in violence Sunday when, police say, a woman clonked a man on the head with a New Orleans Saints garden gnome.

A report by Gulfport police Officer Jennifer Crowson says that at about 4:17 p.m. Sunday, Lisa D. Buckley, 47, a server at a local restaurant, arrived at her home at 5407 29th Ave. S "and began yelling at the victim." Buckley then "threw items all around the residence and then picked up a New Orleans Saints garden gnome and struck (the victim) with it."

Crowson reported that the victim was bleeding from the ear and the left side of his head but refused medical attention. Meanwhile, she wrote, "Buckley fled the scene prior to my arrival."

The next day, though, Buckley called and sent text messages to the victim trying to persuade him to drop the case.

Buckley was arrested Tuesday on charges of domestic battery and harassing a victim and taken to the Pinellas County Jail, where records show she was released in lieu of $5,000 bail.

Craig Pittman, Times staff