AUGUSTA — A woman accused of beating her father with a fire poker and piece of firewood — splitting his skull — pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge Tuesday and was sentenced to 150 days in prison.
Briana L. Rideout, 21, pleaded guilty to assault in connection to a 2017 incident in which, police said, she argued with her father after coming to his Randolph home drunk, got mad and hit him several times with a fire poker and a piece of firewood, until another relative intervened and her father fled out a basement window.
He suffered two fractures to his skull, bruises on his arms, a large cut over one eye and bruises on his shoulder and chest, according to an affidavit filed by Kennebec County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeffrey Boudreau.
Rideout, of Whitefield, was initially charged — and later indicted by a Kennebec County grand jury — with aggravated assault, a class B felony charge, following the March 7, 2017 incident.
Following a plea agreement, those charges were dismissed and she pleaded guilty Tuesday to class D misdemeanor assault. She was sentenced to 364 days of imprisonment, with all but 150 days suspended, and with credit for time she served while awaiting resolution of the case.
Her attorney, William Baghdoyan, said Rideout completed counseling, has had a job for six months and is doing well.
“Ms. Rideout, I commend you,” District Court Judge Eric Walker said to her Tuesday. “You’ve earned this result, it’s not something that’s just being given to you.”
Police investigated after receiving a report of a badly beaten man being treated at MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta.
Deputies interviewed the victim, and reported finding a large piece of firewood with a chunk missing from it, a fire poker, and drops of blood on the floor at the man’s Randolph home.
Rideout was arrested at her home in Whitefield by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and transferred to Kennebec County.
The affidavit said Rideout came to the home already drunk, and then her father bought alcohol and they drank some of it together in the basement of the home. They argued over money and other issues and the father, the affidavit said, pushed her back to get her away from him while she was screaming at him. She fell over, and then picked up a large piece of firewood and hit him in the head.
Keith Edwards — 621-5647
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