Katrina Wheeler says a night out at the Pilot House restaurant in Gloucester turned violent when two women attacked her and her girlfriend, leaving her bitten, bruised, and eventually in the back of an ambulance after a seizure. She says the confrontation started inside the restaurant and ended with her lying in the street outside.
According to NBC Boston, Wheeler said she and her girlfriend walked out the front door toward her parked vehicle when both women jumped her. She said the pair ended up on top of her, pulling her hair and scratching her face during the struggle.
A Scream Caught on Camera
Wheeler told the station that a bystander riding in an Uber recorded the tail end of the confrontation. “At the end, you can hear me scream when she bit me,” she said, describing the moment one of the attackers sank her teeth in. Wheeler said the bite broke her skin, and she is now taking antibiotics as a result.
She said she was left with bruises and scratches across her body and face, and that some of her hair was ripped out during the struggle. Wheeler said the attack, which happened on a Thursday, triggered a seizure, and she was taken away by ambulance.
Old Trauma Resurfaces
Wheeler said she had spent 12 years overcoming post-traumatic stress tied to past domestic violence, and had recovered enough to stop taking medication before the attack. She said the assault brought that past trauma rushing back.
Massachusetts’ domestic-violence law defines abuse as conduct between “family or household members,” a category that includes relatives, people who live or lived together, and people in a substantive dating relationship. The law includes causing physical harm. That legal definition concerns the relationship between the people involved; Wheeler’s account of past domestic violence and its emotional impact does not, by itself, establish how the restaurant incident would be classified. The state statute spells out those definitions.
Gloucester police responded to the scene, per the same account. Wheeler said that, as of her conversation with reporters, no one had been arrested in connection with the attack.
Charges Filed, but Details Withheld
The Gloucester police chief confirmed that charges have been filed in the case, though the chief did not disclose what those charges are, the outlet reported. One of the women charged pushed back on Wheeler's version of events, claiming that Wheeler had actually started the confrontation.
For people seeking support related to domestic violence on the North Shore, Healing Abuse Working for Change, or HAWC, serves Essex County, including Gloucester, and lists a 24-hour hotline at 800-547-1649. The organization’s services are a community resource; there is no indication in the account that Wheeler has contacted it or is seeking its assistance. Massachusetts lists HAWC among the region’s support providers.
The Essex County District Attorney’s Office handles prosecution in the county and provides victim-witness advocates to help victims and witnesses navigate criminal cases. The office says advocates offer information, support and referrals; their role gives local context to the DA’s involvement, though the office had not responded to NBC Boston’s request for comment when the outlet published its account. The office describes its victim-witness services.
That woman declined to give an interview, telling the station she would wait for her day in court. The Essex County District Attorney's Office had not responded to the outlet's request for comment at the time of its report.
