Bail was set at $7,500 for a Lacey woman accused of trying to strangle her longtime boyfriend with the strap from his briefcase.
Tinna Raina Lanham, 29, appeared Monday in Thurston County Superior Court on one count of second-degree assault (strangulation/domestic violence). Arraignment was set for Dec. 13.
Court documents give the following account:
Lacey police responded Wednesday to a report of an assault that had occurred the week before. The victim told police he had been talking on the phone when Lanham came home and accused him of having an affair.
The victim said Lanham disconnected the phone, then came up behind him and wrapped the strap from his briefcase around his neck in an attempt to strangle him. He said he was unable to breathe and started feeling light-headed. She then struck him several times in the face and body and also pushed him into a wall, injuring his eye and face.
The victim checked into a hospital and was diagnosed with head and chest injuries, according to police. He told police he had been in an abusive relationship with Lanham for 10 years and was too embarrassed to tell anyone, but finally spoke up because he is scared for his safety.
An officer later responded to a disturbance at the residence shared by the victim and Lanham. The victim had returned to retrieve job-related materials, and Lanham was yelling and throwing his belongings out a window. During her arrest, Lanham said she had caught him cheating.
According to a restraining order filed last week, the victim said Lanham “posted a vile and degrading Facebook post, claiming to be me, on my former client’s mother’s Facebook page” a few days after the attempted strangulation. He also said he received medical treatment in March for a head wound after Lanham had struck him with a glass mug.
“This was the first time I felt (Lanham) could have killed me,” according to the restraining order. “I am afraid of what (Lanham) would do if she were to encounter someone she thought I was involved with.”
At Monday’s court hearing, Judge James Dixon said Lanham had no prior criminal history. The Bethel School District confirmed that Lanham was a teacher at Spanaway Lake High School until August 2015. A spokesperson for Federal Way Public Schools said Lanham had been serving as a substitute teacher with the school district, but is no longer doing so.
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