Mother stabs, slashes son at doctor's office, says Largo PD

Police investigators gather evidence after a Saturday morning stabbing at a Largo psychiatrist's office. [Photo by EAMONN KNEESHAW]

LARGO -- A mother in a psychiatrist's office for supervised visitation with her 15-year-old son pulled out a dagger and drywall knife and stabbed the boy in the abdomen, then cut his throat, Largo Police Sgt. Mark Young said Saturday.   

Celeste Minardi, 55, left, was arrested on charges of attempted murder and carrying a concealed weapon Saturday morning, accused of stabbing and slashing her son Bradley Driscoll, Young said.

Minardi is the ex-wife of Timothy Driscoll, city attorney for Gulfport. The couple were married in 1984 and divorced in 2005, with Driscoll getting custody of their son, records show.

Minardi met her son around 10 a.m. at the office of Dr. Ronald Knaus, 1301 Seminole Blvd., for the court-ordered visit, Young said. She and her son sat on a couch while a nurse sat at a desk nearby, Young said. At first everything seemed fine as she pulled from her purse a bottle of cologne and a deck of playing cards -- but then she pulled out the two knives and began attacking her son, Young said.

The attack, using a 15-1/2 inch ornamental dagger and a 12-inch drywall knife, left the teenager with a deep stab wound to his abdomen and slashes on his neck and forehead, Young said. The boy staggered out to the lobby and collapsed, he said.

While the nurse dialed 911, a doctor at the office, Dr. Gerard Boutin, ordered Minardi to drop her weapons, Young said. She did. The 911 call came in at 10:19 a.m., Young said.

Minardi, who gave an address of 1202 Fairway Drive in Dunedin, was being held without bail at the Pinellas County Jail. She has no prior criminal history. Paramedics rushed the teenager to Bayfront Medical Center, where he was being treated for life-threatening injuries, Young said.

Click here for video from the scene outside the doctor's office.

Craig Pittman and Stephanie Garry, Times staff writers