ROCK SPRINGS — A woman from Spokane, Washington is accused of attacking a person with a railroad spike and is being held at the Sweetwater County Detention Center on a $50,000 cash or surety bond.

Hannah Michele Fazio, 20, appeared in Sweetwater County Circuit Court Monday on charges of aggravated assault and battery and being a minor with a measurable alcohol concentration in her body. For the felony assault charge, she faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine, or both, while the misdemeanor charge carries a penalty of up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $750, or both. Her preliminary hearing was set for July 30 at 3:30 p.m.

According to court documents, the Green River Police Department responded to a call at Expedition Island Tuesday regarding a report of two women fighting, with one of them attempting to hit the other with a railroad spike.

Upon arrival, the officers contacted Fazio and another individual. Documents state Fazio told officers she was at the pavilion at Evers Park when an altercation between herself and another woman that she had met the day prior. Fazio told officers the woman had approached her and her friend in an aggressive manner and yelled at them to leave the park, alleging the woman walked up to her face and raised her arms to enter a fighting stance. Fazio said she raised her arms to her chest to avoid being hit by the other woman and when the woman approached her, Fazio wrapped her arms around the back of the woman’s neck and forced her to the ground. 

Fazio told officers that once the woman was on the ground, she told her she wanted to leave and told her to leave her alone, then got off the other woman and allowed her to stand up. Fazio said once the woman stood up, she grabbed Fazio and her friend’s belongings and threw them around the pavilion. Fazio also said the woman approached her and punched her in the face. 

Officers also spoke to the other woman involved in the altercation, who had been checked by medics and refused transport to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County. She had sustained a broken nose during the fight and alleged Fazio had hit her with a railroad spike.

Fazio was interviewed a second time and documents state she told officers she hit the woman approximately 10 times, saying she hit the woman because she believed she would hurt her and viewed it as self defense. Fazio denied using anything to hit the woman, but later told officers she may have had a lighter in her hands.

Documents state when officers pointed to a city camera installed at Evers Park and asked what Fazio thought they would see, Fazio became teary-eyed and admitted to hitting the woman with a railroad spike. Fazio said she carries a railroad spike for personal protection. Fazio told officers she threw the spike into some grass where her friend was sitting before they contacted her, ultimately handing the item over to the officers. 

While being interviewed by officers, the woman Fazio allegedly struck with a railroad spike said she and her boyfriend stayed the night at the pavilion near where Fazio and her friend slept and Fazio told her that she was 19 years old. Earlier in the day, Fazio approached the two and asked if the woman’s boyfriend would go to Maverik and buy alcohol, alleging Fazio was already intoxicated. The woman said they declined the request and alleged Fazio got upset and tackled her to the ground. She then alleged Fazio hit her with a railroad spike.

When Fazio was transported to the detention center, a preliminary breath test resulted in a measurement of .107 percent.