A Florida woman is facing three felony charges after troopers say an argument inside a BMW X5 on Interstate 95 ended with part of her husband’s ear bitten off.
Florida Highway Patrol arrested 43-year-old Amy Arlene Baker following the Aug. 15 incident near Hillsboro Boulevard in Deerfield Beach. Her husband told investigators he was driving north on I-95 when the argument became physical.
Baker and her husband gave troopers different accounts of who started the violence. What wasn’t in dispute was the bite. According to the arrest report, Baker acknowledged grabbing her husband’s head with both hands and biting his right ear, causing a portion of it to become detached.
Their children, ages 7 and 1, were in the BMW during the altercation.
The Argument Continues on I-95
The couple had attended a boat party in the Fort Lauderdale Port Marina area and were heading home when they began arguing about problems in their relationship, according to FHP.
Baker’s husband told the trooper that she called him derogatory names during the argument. He said Baker then struck the left side of his face with an open hand while he was driving.
About two minutes later, he said, Baker grabbed his face and head with both hands and intentionally bit into his right ear, tearing off a portion.
The husband told FHP he was initially in shock. After seeing the amount of blood, he exited I-95 and drove to West Boca Medical Center.
Baker’s husband also told investigators that she laughed after biting him and initially did not appear to take the severity of his injury seriously.
Friends who had been traveling behind the family in another vehicle took the couple’s children to a residence after everyone arrived at the hospital.
Baker Gives Troopers Her Account
Baker gave the trooper a different account of how the physical confrontation started. She said she had been drinking and told investigators she was the person who initially called 911 after her husband struck her.
According to Baker, the couple had been arguing about life insurance policies, liability, and other personal issues when her husband told her to “shut up” and struck the left side of her face with an open hand or backhand motion. Her husband denied striking or otherwise touching her.
Baker acknowledged becoming frustrated, grabbing her husband’s head with both hands, and intentionally biting his right ear. She told the trooper she had “lost control.”
The bite caused a portion of his ear to become detached. Baker retrieved the piece and gave it to medical personnel at West Boca Medical Center.
When the trooper spoke with Baker’s husband at the hospital, he was lying in a bed with a white bandage wrapped around his head and covering his right ear. The trooper reported seeing what appeared to be blood extending down the right side of his neck and onto his shirt and shorts.
He remained at West Boca Medical Center awaiting scheduled surgery to reattach the portion of his ear when the trooper left. The arrest report does not say whether the surgery was successful.
Trooper Weighs Two Different Accounts
After considering both accounts, their physical conditions, the available evidence, and Baker’s self-defense claim, the investigating trooper identified Baker as the primary aggressor, citing her husband’s injury and bleeding, his account of what happened, and Baker’s own admissions.
The arrest report describes the injury as causing great bodily harm and/or permanent disfigurement.
FHP also cited the aggravated battery occurring in front of the couple’s two children and the potential for mental distress in establishing probable cause for the child-neglect charges. The Florida Department of Children and Families was contacted that night.
Baker was arrested and taken to the Broward County Main Jail without further incident.
The Case Moves Into Broward County Court
Broward County court records show Baker faces one second-degree felony count of aggravated battery and two third-degree felony counts of child neglect without great bodily harm, one count corresponding to each child.
The case was filed Aug. 16. A magistrate later found probable cause, and a domestic-violence no-contact order was filed Aug. 17.
Court records show bond was posted on all three counts on Aug. 18. Baker was no longer listed in the Broward County jail’s online database later that day.
The case remains active.
All parties are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.