KEY WEST, Fla. — Police arrested a Key West woman on three felony charges Friday night after they said she made armed threats over a “stolen” phone that was never actually stolen at all.
According to an arrest report from the Key West Police Department, officers were sent to the 1300 block of Ashby Street at around 10:10 p.m. regarding “a female in a white Ford Explorer who pulled up to (a man) armed with a revolver claiming someone had stolen her phone.”
Police said they responded and found Gail Marie Stephenson, 57, standing near her SUV. According to the report, she said she had been drinking that night at the American Legion hall “and gave a younger gentleman that she didn’t know a ride home.”
That man stole her phone, she said, adamant that it was no longer in her vehicle, the report states. But when she opened her door, it was lying in plain sight on her driver’s side floorboard, police said. Police said they also found a revolver case inside; she claimed “her husband must have (the gun) with him in Georgia” and “became emphatic” that she wasn’t armed.
Stephenson, who “smelled strongly” of alcohol, “admitted to having several drinks” that night, police said.
While talking to her, police said they kept getting calls “that a woman fitting Stephenson’s description had a revolver and was banging on people’s home(s) and threatening those residences, stating she had been robbed.”
Authorities said they then talked to the man who made the initial call.
The 52-year-old said Stephenson came to his house, “blowing her vehicle’s horn repeatedly” and he came out with a flashlight and approached the SUV to ask if she needed help, the report states.
Stephenson “grabbed a revolver and pointed it at his chest,” then set the gun down and said “she was robbed,” police said.
Police said she then “pointed at the fence gate” at an Ashby Street home and “repeat(ed) that the guy (who) robbed her went in there.”
The woman who lives at that home said Stephenson “banged on her door a couple of times after entering from the United Street side of the property before exiting on the Ashby Street side of the property,” having entered through a closed fence gate.
The woman said “that she had no idea who Stephenson was and didn’t answer the door,” according to the report.
Authorities said they found the loaded gun on the woman’s property “inside a purple Crown Royal bag” and “stashed behind a trash can.”
Police arrested Stephenson on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed trespassing and evidence tampering.
Stephenson was no longer listed as an active inmate in Monroe County jail records as of Monday morning.
She’s scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 10.
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