UPDATED, 11 a.m. Wednesday with charges

 

CLAYTON • A woman upset with her ex-boyfriend after a hearing in small claims court on Tuesday hit him twice with her car in a parking lot, Clayton Police Chief Tom Byrne said.

Byrne said the victim -- Charles Powell, 40, of Florissant -- suffered serious injuries, including two broken legs, and was taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Marilyn Cork, 51, of St. Louis, was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. Cork is being held at the St. Louis County Justice Center. Bond was set at $250,000.

Cork hit the man once then hit him a second time, pinning him against another car about 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot at the corner of Carondelet and South Central avenues, Byrne said.

They had just come from a civil court hearing in which the woman was seeking $480 from the man, said Judicial Administrator Paul Fox. The man brought his fiancée to the hearing. She was inside the victim's car at the time of the incident, Byrne said.

"I think there were a lot of things that got her (the ex-girlfriend) riled up," Byrne said.

A third car was damaged during the incident.

Fox said court officials who had presided over the small claims hearing were shocked to learn of the assault.

"There was no altercation between them in the courtroom, and as far as anyone could tell, it was a routine case," Fox said.

Rulings are not revealed during small claims court hearings, instead, the results are mailed. "If there was any animosity between them, it was not based on the judge's ruling because he hadn't ruled on it at the time this occurred," Fox said.

But court records show that the judge later ruled against Cork, ordering her to pay a $27 fee.