CALDWELL -- A Caldwell woman is behind bars after police say she bit off a chunk of her boyfriend's ear during a disagreement Tuesday morning.
Jennifer Mae Johnson, 39, is facing a felony charge of mayhem in connection to the incident.
Officers responded to a home in Caldwell shortly after midnight to find the victim "openly bleeding" from a wound on his left ear. According to court documents, the man told police that he and Johnson had been drinking and arguing when she attacked him.
The victim said he was sitting on a sofa in the garage when his girlfriend grabbed him by both shoulders, leaned in and bit his ear, tearing off a piece off it. Johnson then spit out the chunk of his ear, the man said.
Officers found the suspect in an RV behind the home, where the couple lived. According to court documents, Johnson denied biting the victim, telling investigators that she had been asleep all evening and had not seen him.
Police found drops of fresh blood inside the RV, and more blood on the sofa in the garage. Johnson was arrested and booked into the Canyon County Jail.
Idaho Code's definition of the charge of mayhem is "every person who unlawfully and maliciously deprives a human being of a member of his body, or disables, disfigures or renders it useless, or cuts out or disables the tongue, puts out an eye, slits the nose, ear or lip, is guilty of mayhem."
If convicted, Johnson could face up to 14 years in prison.
