After an argument Tuesday evening, Michelle Dawn Hawn hit her boyfriend several times in the head with her vacuum, leaving him fighting for his life, according to Clark County Sheriff’s deputies.
The blows, inflicted with an upright plastic Dirt Devil, fractured 41-year-old Todd D. Proetel’s skull and the bones around his eyes, according to reports. As of Wednesday afternoon, Proetel was in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit at Southwest Washington Medical Center.
Deputies were called to Callaham’s Mobile Manor, 10804 N.E. Highway 99, shortly before 6 p.m.
Inside the aging trailer, deputies found Proetel unconscious with a large amount of blood coming from his head.
The Sheriff’s Office Tactical Detective Unit investigated, and arrested Hawn, 37, on suspicion of first-degree assault – domestic violence.
Hawn — who documents list as 5 feet, 6 inches and 210 pounds — is being held at the Clark County Jail on $100,000 bail.
According to police reports, Hawn admitted to striking Proetel, whom she said lives with her. Reports also say that she said she was intoxicated at the time and that she has a history of bipolar disorder, alcoholism and domestic violence.
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The responding deputy’s report said that Hawn ran to a neighbor’s house after the attack, crying and saying, “Todd beat me up.” She also told the neighbor that Proetel had passed out on the floor.
However, Clark County Sgt. Duncan Hoss wrote that after her arrest, “there were no outwardly visible signs of recent abuse” on Hawn’s face and body.
Hawn stayed at the neighbor’s trailer for up to 45 minutes before she and the neighbor, Renee A. Neeley, went back to the unit, where Neeley found Proetel laying in the kitchen, covered in blood, the police report said.
Neeley then called two other men, who rushed to the trailer and attempted to stop the bleeding with a towel.
Deputies searching the trailer found the Dirt Devil with blood on it, along with blood splatter on an orange bucket nearby.
It’s the first time in his 18 years of law enforcement that Hoss has seen a vacuum used as a weapon in a major crime, he said Wednesday.
Callaham’s Mobile Manor — a rundown loop of stained trailers built more than 40 years ago — receives a lot of attention from the sheriff’s office, he said.
“It’s basically a slum,” Hoss said.
In 2000, county code enforcement swept the park, closing 21 of Callahams’ 60 or so trailers for infestation, flooding, open wires, rotten floors and more.
Neighbors have reported rents of up to $700 a month for the dilapidated living quarters. But they also said background checks and the first and last month’s rent aren’t required.
George Callaham, who owns the park, said in 2007 he planned to sell the acreage for condominiums or townhouses. No real estate transaction has occurred.
On Wednesday afternoon, Hawn’s stained tan trailer sat empty, with all the curtains drawn. Her 1996 Ford Taurus was still parked in the driveway. A blond boy in a tank top pedaled his bike a few units down.
Police documents said Hawn told them she has been unemployed for five years, and has lived at Callaham’s for two years. She gets just more than $900 a month in Social Security disability payments and food stamps, the report shows.
Her arraignment is set for 9 a.m. Aug. 18 in Clark County Superior Court. She will have a court-appointed attorney.
Andrea Damewood: 360-735-4542 or andrea.damewood@columbian.com.
