A Springfield man has been charged with assault after trying to run over his girlfriend's mother with his vehicle.
Trystan Blake Dean Leonard was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action after he hit a woman outside a home on Springlane Street, near the intersection of South Kansas Expressway and West Battlefield Road on March 6.
A Springfield Police Department probable cause statement shows officers found the woman lying in the middle of a bush with a laceration on her head near her left eyebrow and a possibly broken leg.
According to police, Leonard and the victim had sent a string of threatening messages to each other. The victim had also messaged others saying she was going to beat up Leonard.
Messages from Leonard include one saying if he saw her out in public he would “shank” her, and for her to “watch your back,” the probable cause statement shows.
Leonard was traveling in a white Chrysler PT Cruiser to a Springlane address to fight the victim, according to a probable cause statement. When Leonard saw the victim holding a bat in the middle of the road, Leonard reportedly hit her with the car.
“In that moment, I just seen red,” an officer wrote Leonard said in the probable cause statement. “I was so...mad.”
Leonard said he believed he was traveling 30 to 40 mph when he struck the victim. He pulled over and stopped to wait for police to arrive, according to the statement.
Leonard is being held in the Greene County Jail without bond.
