A local woman was arrested at a Nashville hotel after police received reports of loud arguments in her room and she refused to follow an officer’s directions.
Nashville Police Chief Ben Seastrom responded to a report of a possible domestic situation on May 29. The manager said she had watched a small-framed woman stagger around early in the morning and try to get a room away from the man she was staying with, the probable cause affidavit states.
The woman — Lisa R. Benefiel, 48, of Helmsburg Road — tried to use another man’s credit card, but the manager refused to make the transaction. Benefiel then went to the parking lot and took off her shoes, got into a van and drove out of the parking lot. A man later came into the hotel and bought a room for Benefiel before leaving the building again, the affidavit states.
While Benefiel was in the room, neighbors called the front desk reporting a possible fight in the room next to them.
As he approached the room, Seastrom could hear a woman screaming and laughing. A man who came out of the room said he was trying to get away from Benefiel and leave the property, the police report said.
Benefiel told Seastrom that she had been drinking and that the man stole her keys and van. Seastrom noted that Benefiel was staggering around the room as if she would fall at any time. She told Seastrom she drove her van to Grandma Barnes Road to work, but didn’t know who had her keys or where the vehicle was, the police report said.
Seastrom reported seeing no signs of intoxication in the man and he was released from the scene. Seastrom told Benefiel to stay in her room, and if she left she would be arrested for disorderly conduct and public intoxication.
While Seastrom was sitting in the dining room, about 15 minutes later, hotel staff informed him that Benefiel was heading across the parking lot toward 46 East, staggering and barefoot.
Seastrom found her near the gas station. He tried to remind her about not leaving her room, but Benefiel started growling and tried to run from him, his report said. He told her to stop, she took five more steps, and he grabbed her wrist and placed her in handcuffs, his report said.
A breath test at the jail showed her blood-alcohol content to be 0.26, more than three times the legal limit. She was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital. While he was driving to and from the hospital, Seastrom reported that Benefiel was loud, growled and kept kicking his seat. She was booked into jail after being released from the hospital.
On May 31, Benefiel was charged with public intoxication and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors.
