INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis woman will spend three years in prison after she was found guilty of attacking her neighbor with a hammer during a dispute over $20.
According to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office, Olivia Colbert pleaded guilty to Battery by Means of a Deadly Weapon, a Level 5 felony, and was sentenced to four years with three years in the Indiana Department of Correction and one year suspended to probation.
Colbert also received two years of probation for her roles in two unrelated cases.
According to court documents, the incident occurred on May 1, 2025 in the 300 block of West 25th Street. The victim, Andrea Holzhausen, told police that Colbert, a resident of a transitional housing program, had demanded $20 that Colbert's mother had allegedly sent via CashApp.
When Holzhausen said she didn't have the money, Colbert gave her a one-hour ultimatum. When Colbert returned exactly one hour later, she knocked Holzhausen's phone from her hands, leading to a physical altercation.
During the fight, Colbert struck Holzhausen in the head multiple times with a hammer that had been covered with a sock. Witnesses reported that Holzhausen briefly lost consciousness after being hit and was transported to Methodist Hospital for treatment.
During her interview with police, Colbert provided a different version of events, claiming that Holzhausen and her husband attacked her first and that she grabbed the hammer defensively. Colbert also alleged that she was called a racial slur during the confrontation.
When officers attempted to arrest Colbert, she resisted by pulling away and attempting to flee before finally being handcuffed.
