Hockey mask-wearing Tennessee man attacks strip-club dancer, Key West police say
A Tennessee man visiting Key West attacked a woman working at a strip club by grabbing her and cutting her hair with scissors while shirtless and wearing a hockey mask Tuesday night, according to police.
Jeffrey Carroll, 44, from Columbia, Tennessee, was at the VIP Gentlemen’s Club on Duval Street around 6:20 p.m., when he “started trouble” with the women working there, according to his arrest report. He booked a “dance session” with one of the employees, but said he wanted to dance with another woman, the report states.
Another woman, the victim, then came out to dance with him before he left around 6:45 p.m., according to the report, which does not say what he did to cause trouble.
Around 10:10 p.m., Carroll returned to the club, which has a front porch. He was shirtless and wearing a “hockey-style mask,” according to the report. A worker sitting on the porch tried to get inside the club, but he blocked her from entering, the report states. The woman filmed the confrontation on her cellphone “for her safety,” police say.
The victim opened the door to let her colleague inside, according to the report. That’s when Carroll grabbed her by the hair, pulled out a pair of scissors from his back pocket and cut off a lock of her hair, police say. Officers wrote in the report that the attack was filmed on the business’ security camera.
Carroll ran away after cutting the woman’s hair, police say.
Officers arrived about five minutes later and interviewed the woman, who was “obviously shaken up and emotional due to what had occurred,” the report states.
The woman told officers that Carroll told her, “I’m gonna take your life,” according to the report.
While an officer was interviewing the woman, his colleagues found Carroll a block away at Louisa and Simonton streets. He was still shirtless, and cops found a pair of scissors near him, but not the mask, according to the report. Officers also found an amphetamine pill in his pocket, the affidavit states.
His arrest report states he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Officers booked Carroll into Monroe County’s main jail on Stock Island on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.
The Miami Herald reached out to the VIP Gentlemen’s Club for comments.
His bond on the second charge was set at $45,000, and bond amounts for the other charges were not immediately available. He remained in jail as of Wednesday afternoon, and information on his legal counsel was not immediately available.
According to jail records, his first appearance before a judge is scheduled for April 23.
