Washington Man Shaves Ex-Girlfriend's Head During Alleged Break-In

Nicholas O'Hara didn't want his ex "to be attractive to other men."

ByABC News
July 12, 2011, 11:37 AM

July 12, 2011— -- A Washington State man is being held on $100,000 bail for breaking into his ex-girlfriend's home and shaving her head with a pair of clippers, authorities said.

Police arrested Nicholas O'Hara, 27, for burglary and unlawful imprisonment Friday but he has not been formally charged by the Snohomish County prosecutor's office.

O'Hara's ex-girlfriend, 30, called 911 that day at 4:35 p.m. as O'Hara paced around her apartment, while her 1-year-old child –- fathered by another man -- slept inside, police said.

O'Hara was reportedly trying to find a way to break in and yelling at her to unlock the door, police said. She told police O'Hara said he knew someone was inside with her (nobody was).

Although her front door had a deadbolt, police say, O'Hara confessed to kicking it down, ripping the molding off the door and separating the metal plate from the door jamb.

When police arrived they cuffed O'Hara, who was standing in his ex-girlfriend's bedroom doorway with clippers in his hand. But it was too late, police said, because he had already tried to shave off her hair.

Lynnwood police spokesman James Nelson told ABCNews.com that neither he nor their domestic violence coordinator had ever heard of someone's head being shaved during an assault.

Police said they found locks of hair strewn on the floor of the living room and bedroom, and the ex-girlfriend holding clumps of hair in her hands.

Her child was in another room at the time, Nelson said, and is safe. O'Hara was jealous of the child, the ex-girlfriend said, envious of the time she spent with her baby.

Not only did O'Hara cut off the hair on the right side of his ex-girlfriend's head and also the back of her head, she said he slammed her head into a mirror hanging over her bed, according to police.

It wasn't the first time he had attacked her, she told police.

The ex-girlfriend said O'Hara had tried to shave her head at his father's apartment in Everett, Wash., July 6. He allegedly forced her to lean over a sink and she then fell to the floor. O'Hara then reportedly tried to force her into the clothes dryer but O'Hara's father intervened, threatening to call the police. The ex-girlfriend said O'Hara attacked her again the following day, punching her in the arm, and that he had tried to strangle her in the past.

O'Hara told police he wanted to shave his ex-girlfriend's head so that she wouldn't be attractive to other men.

He also admitted to using methamphetamine, methadone, anti-anxiety and -depression medication. His ex-girlfriend said O'Hara is being treated for psychiatric problems. He told police he didn't have anywhere to live except for his ex-girlfriend's apartment.

O'Hara is being held at Snohomish County Jail. It's unclear whether he has a lawyer.