Tampabay: Bride first gets a ring, then gets handcuffed

CRYSTAL RIVER -- Oh, the headaches a bride must endure. There's coordinating the caterers, finding the perfect dress, selecting the bridesmaids, soothing squabbling relatives.

And, in Kathy Naylor's case, making bail.

Naylor, 28, of 4308 S Honesty Point in Homosassa spent the night after her nuptials in the Citrus County jail for punching a wedding guest after the ceremony, authorities said. She was held on one count of battery and bailed out the next morning.

But Naylor said the whole thing was a big misunderstanding.

"They're not telling the truth about me," she said. According to the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, a deputy was dispatched to an address on W Glenbrook Street about 10:30 p.m. Sunday. The victim, a 28-year-old Homosassa woman who was not named by the Sheriff's Office, told the deputy she had attended Naylor's wedding earlier in the day, and her boyfriend had fought with a couple of people at the ceremony.

The fight was settled, and everyone made up before leaving the reception, the victim said. But Naylor, apparently upset about the disruption to her big day, drove to the victim's house after the event.

According to an arrest report, here is what happened next:

The bride kicked open the door to the victim's bedroom, knocking it off its hinges and narrowly missing the victim's child, who was sleeping in the bed.

Naylor punched the victim in the head. The victim struck Naylor with the telephone, which she had just used to dial 911. Then Naylor left the house.

Sometime during the fracas, a bookcase was overturned, spilling its contents all over the living room floor.

The report does not give details on any injuries suffered by the victim or whether either of the women required medical attention.

Two deputies drove to Naylor's house to ask her about the incident. She told them she had just gotten married and had not left the house. After Deputy Robert Crosnoe told her she was under arrest on a battery charge, Naylor admitted she had gone to the victim's house but said it was only to talk.

Then, mere hours after a ring had been slipped on her finger, handcuffs were placed on her wrists and Naylor was escorted to jail.

Naylor said the arrest report is incorrect.

She said it was her friend, whom she identified as Geraldine Edwards, who started the fight. Edwards could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Naylor and her new husband, Larry, spent three weeks planning the wedding, which was held in the back yard of their mobile home, with about 30 guests.

The bride changed out of her pale pink gown for the 3 p.m. reception, also in the couple's back yard. Naylor admits the Budweiser was flowing freely, but she said they took precautions to prevent any outbursts.

"I told everyone I didn't want any fighting at my wedding," Larry Naylor said. "You know the rednecks around here."

Naylor said Edwards' boyfriend picked a fight with a 19-year-old friend of the family and punched him. Larry Naylor rushed to the 19-year-old's defense, and a real fight began.

"Them two ended up getting into it, then Geraldine got in his face, too," Naylor said.

Tempers cooled, everyone shook hands and the party ended. But the boyfriend returned to Naylor's house with four of his friends, Naylor said. She decided to straighten things out with Edwards before things turned ugly.

She said the door already was off its hinges and was just resting in the door frame.

"I'm not that big a person," Naylor said. "I couldn't kick the door down by myself."

She hit Edwards only after she was struck with the phone, she said.

The night in jail was not the fairy-tale ending Naylor had envisioned for her wedding. She's humiliated by the attention and that, as his first official act as a husband, Larry Naylor had to dip into their honeymoon fund to pay her $500 bail.

"We were hoping to go somewhere nice," Naylor said, sighing. "Now I just don't know."

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