Was it jealousy? Was it old feelings bubbling back to the top? Or was it something else entirely? It doesn’t really matter; the end result was the same: Jail.
Friday night, officers responded to a criminal damage to property call on Weeks Road. When the dust finally settled, Valerie Batten, 33, was in jail after she allegedly destroyed her boyfriend’s bedroom while he was hanging out with his cousin.
According to a report from the sheriff’s office, the property owners, Tracy Wimberly and Stephanie Davis, contacted authorities when they saw that their son’s room had been vandalized.
Tracy and Stephanie allowed their son, Jason Davis, and his girlfriend, Batten, to stay at their house. Tracy and Stephanie left the house that night and shortly thereafter, Jason left to spend some time with his cousin. According to the report, Jason said that before he left, Batten told him that she would mess up his room if he hung out with his cousin. While Jason was gone, Batten sent him text messages that said “ya tv gone” and “ya bed f’ed” as well as “so is ya fan.”
Batten also allegedly took down the security camera before pouring what appeared to be hot sauce all over every wall, bed sheets, clothes, the window AC unit, and more objects in the room. There were also three holes in the wall, a broken fan box, and a broken mirror. Jason’s black Roku television was also missing, according to the report. There did not appear to be any forced entry.
Stephanie and Tracy reported the damage after they returned home, according to the report. Jason also agreed to make a written statement to officers.
The officers left the home and found Batten. The report states that she said that she stayed in the home for about half an hour after everyone left. Then she got her clothes and her dog then left. Batten added that she and Jason had argued before he left because he had been drinking. She said that she “might have” sent the messages because she was mad. Batten told officers that she told Jason she was going to take the TV then, the report says, she changed her story. The report says Batten told officers that she didn’t know the TV was gone.
Batten was arrested and charged with criminal damage to property and theft by taking. She was transported to the Coffee County Jail and has since been released.