A 22-year-old Boca Raton woman is facing two counts of battery after police said she punched, bit and swung at a group of people inside a car parked in Delray Beach early on October 11. Jessica Ann Sumner was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail following the confrontation, which police say began after a night out and ended with the driver's iPhone, red marks on the driver and bite marks shown by two men.
According to BocaNewsNow.com, Sumner met the group at Good Night John Boy sometime after midnight. One man in the group told police Sumner seemed very intoxicated, and he offered to help her, but she reportedly refused. The group later returned to their car, which was parked in the lot at 298 E. Atlantic Ave., where police say the situation escalated quickly.
Police told the outlet that Sumner yelled about a woman sitting in the front passenger seat before swinging at her, missing, and instead hitting people seated in the back of the car. She then allegedly punched the driver in the face and pulled his hair. A second man said Sumner bit him as he tried to intervene, and he showed officers a bite mark on his right arm, per the same report.
Injuries Documented, Video Shown to Police
Officers documented red marks on the driver's neck, back, torso and arms, along with a bite mark on his right arm, the outlet reported. One witness reportedly showed police a video of the incident, which investigators used alongside witness accounts in building the case against Sumner.
In the chaos, Sumner allegedly left the scene with the driver's iPhone. The phone's owner told police he did not believe Sumner meant to steal it, and he declined to press charges over the phone itself, according to the report. Sumner reportedly told police that someone at Bounce had slipped a phone into her pocket and that she thought it belonged to her roommate.
Tracked Down by Her Own Roommate
Sumner's roommate tracked her live location, and officers ultimately found her at a home on Southeast Fifth Avenue with the driver's phone among her belongings, the article states. She now faces two counts of battery, and her bond was set at $1,000 per count as she sat in the Palm Beach County Jail, per the same account.
The case echoes an earlier run-in with the law. Sumner was arrested for battery in 2024 and entered a guilty plea in that case, landing her one year of community control probation, the outlet reported.
What Florida Law Says About Battery
Florida law treats battery seriously depending on the circumstances surrounding an alleged offense. Under Florida Statutes §784.03(3), a battery committed in furtherance of a riot or aggravated riot is elevated to a third-degree felony.
As with any criminal case, the charges against Sumner remain allegations at this stage, and she is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
