ST. PETERS • Prosecutors have charged the wife of a Bellefontaine Neighbors police lieutenant with assault, saying she shot him in the leg during a struggle last week at their St. Peters home.
Nancy Lynn Applegate, 46, of the first block of Avocado Tree Circle, was charged Monday with domestic assault and armed criminal action for shooting and wounding her husband Nov. 22 after they returned home from the Guns ‘N Hoses fundraiser at Scottrade Center.
She is the wife of Bellefontaine Neighbors Lt. Shawn Applegate, who serves as press spokesman for his department. He suffered a gunshot wound to his leg during the struggle.
Reached by telephone Tuesday, Shawn Applegate said the shooting was unintentional but declined further comment.
Nancy Applegate told police she was intoxicated when she shot her husband and thought he had tried to strangle her, according to the charges. Shawn Applegate, who is identified in documents only by his initials, told police he had been trying to restrain her and keep her from reaching weapons.
Court documents say the evening began with Shawn Applegate, Nancy Applegate and another couple going to Guns ‘N Hoses, an annual Thanksgiving Eve tradition that features firefighters boxing police officers to raise money for BackStoppers Inc. The nonprofit group financially supports the families of fallen first responders.
Shawn Applegate and the other couple described Nancy Applegate as “extremely intoxicated” on the drive home, according to court documents. Shawn Applegate carried his wife to bed, then drove the other couple home, court records say. He returned home to find his wife in a basement bedroom, threatening to hurt herself and “becoming agitated,” the charges say.
“It’s important to note that Applegate and the victim had numerous firearms in the bedroom, which were unlocked and loaded,” St. Peters Officer Christopher Scott Ruder wrote in a probable cause statement.
Shawn Applegate told police he believed she might reach for a gun, prompting him to stop her from getting out of bed by holding her arms, charges say. That’s when she bit him in the neck. He told police he had to pry her mouth open with his fingers. The fight continued upstairs and into a garage, where they struggled over a gun until she fired a bullet into his left upper thigh.
Police were called to the home at 11:30 p.m. Nancy Applegate told officers she’d been “in fear for her…