Woman sentenced to probation in dog death, attack on 3

ENGLAND — A 22-yearold England woman, arrested naked, bloody and foaming at the mouth after attacking some neighbors and killing a dog, has been sentenced to five years on probation.

Court records show that Treasure Venda Sue Ripka pleaded guilty last week before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Cathleen Compton to aggravated animal cruelty and three counts of second-degree battery in exchange for the sentence imposed. Ripka was also fined $500.

Ripka, who has never been in serious trouble with the law before, faced up to 24 years on the charges, each a Class D felony. The conditions of her probation require that Ripka undergo regular drug testing and treatment if it’s called for.

According to police reports, deputies were called June 21, 2022, to the home of Dearest Lovelace at 16707 Walter Estes Road in England to investigate a report that a woman had torn a door off the hinges at the residence.

Deputies found Ripka in the driveway unclothed with her head covered in blood. She ran up to the patrol car and started beating her head against the hood before deputies could restrain her.

They placed her on the ground in a sitting position but then she began hitting her head against the ground. The officers then restrained her hands and put her in the back of a patrol car as she raved about killing herself and foamed at the mouth, according to the report. She refused their offers of water.

Deputies put a blanket over her until an ambulance arrived. Emergency medical personnel sedated her and took her to the hospital and she suffered a seizure en route.

She was initially considered a Jane Doe until her grandfather, David Ripka, who lives on the road, identified her for deputies, stating that she lived with him. He said he did not know her to use drugs but described her as having recently taken a deep interest in religion and astrology.

Lovelace said Treasure Ripka had attacked him, two next-door neighbors, Marva Roquemore and Shirley Fudge, and killed a dog. The dog, apparently Ripka’s pet, was found with slash marks to its neck in the front yard.

Lovelace described Ripka as acting like a wild animal, telling investigators he encountered her after hearing someone behind his house. He said she pulled his storm door off and he ended up grappling with her for about 20 minutes before he could get away from her and call 911.

An initial mental evaluation by state doctors at her lawyer’s request diagnosed Ripka with schizophrenia based on her reporting suffering from “significant, manic and depressive symptoms.”

But a second examination cleared her of mental illness with a diagnosis of cannabis-induced psychotic disorder, noting that she had tested positive for marijuana at the hospital. The examination report also notes that she gave inconsistent statements about her prior use of marijuana, prescription medication and psychedelics.

“Ms. Ripka’s abnormal mental status at the time of her offenses appeared consistent with the effects of voluntary intoxication, rather than symptoms associated with a persistent mental illness,” the report stated.

Ripka said she barely remembers the incident beyond taking her dog for a walk and deputies lifting her into the car.

She told doctors she had barely been sleeping for the two weeks before the incident.