A Cox Valley Road woman has been charged with Domestic Assault after allegedly cutting the shower pipes while her 23-year-old niece was taking a shower. The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the residence shortly after 8pm Wednesday (April 9, 2025) and arrived to loud yelling inside the home. A Deputy observed 57-year-old Lara Stepp with a lead pipe in her hand and commanded her to drop the pipe and sit down.
The niece said her aunt had broken into the bathroom while she was showering, ripped the curtain down, pressed her against the wall while wielding the lead pipe and then proceeded to threaten her and cut the pipes to the shower with pipe cutters. The niece’s boyfriend corroborated her story.
Lara Stepp was placed under arrest for Domestic Assault. Stepp said Deputies had been to her residence earlier in the day because she wanted her niece and the boyfriend to leave the house. Ms. Stepp was told that she would need a legal eviction notice for this to happen. She was reportedly frustrated and said, “That just cause I gotta let ‘em live there doesn’t mean I gotta let ‘em shower, so that’s why I went in there to cut the pipes.” She also admitted to bringing the pipe with her to “protect herself.”