Police said they haven’t made an arrest in an assault case where a woman lost part of her finger because they couldn’t determine the primary aggressor in the fight.
Officers who responded are forwarding the case to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for review of possible charges, Vancouver Police Department Spokeswoman Kim Kapp said.
The incident was reported at about 8:40 p.m. Friday at Motel 6, 221 N.E. Chkalov Drive.
Charmaine Kay Crossley, a 40-year-old Portland woman, came to the motel with her kids to see the children’s father, Kapp said.
Crossley knocked on the door of one of the rooms and ended up getting into a verbal altercation with a woman inside, Leslie Dawn Larue, 40, a transient, Kapp said.
The argument moved to the hallway and eventually became physical, Kapp said.
During the fight, Larue’s right middle finger ended up in Crossley’s mouth and Crossley bit down, severing the tip of her finger, Kapp said.
By the time officers arrived, they found both women had injuries and when they interviewed Crossley and Larue, they found inconsistencies in both women’s statements, Kapp said. Police could not determine the primary aggressor.
“There was no way for us to determine, after the fact, who was really at fault here,” Kapp said.
Larue went to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center where she was treated and released.
