Collier County teen hospitalized after protecting friend from dating violence incident

A 17-year-old hero is fighting for his life in the hospital after a violent incident in Collier County.

Yan Pantyushina’s mother shared with WINK News, her son was stabbed and run over by a driver while trying to protect a 14-year-old girl he knew.

The incident occurred at a McDonald’s located at the intersection of Collier Boulevard and Immokalee Road.

According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, the 20-year-old suspect, identified as Hayden Retherford, had a physical altercation with his ex-girlfriend, which escalated outside the restaurant.

The Sheriff’s Office reported that Retherford followed his ex-girlfriend into the women’s bathroom at the McDonald’s, shoved her into a wall and stole her phone.

Yan Pantyushina and his friends then pursued Retherford to a nearby bank parking lot to retrieve the girl’s phone. A fight ensued, during which Retherford stabbed Pantyushina several times before running him over with his car.

Pantyushina’s mother, Polina Pantyushina de Chavez, expressed her confusion over the lack of an intent to kill charge.

“This is something that Sergeant explained us, that the charges will say ‘with intention’ only if he says ‘I want to kill him,’ but even though there were so many evidences and people saw how he stabbed him,” said Polina Pantyushina de Chavez. “He tried to stab him over and over and ran over the car on him many times. It was his intention to finish my son’s life…. I still cannot understand this.”

WINK News spoke with Linda Oberhaus, CEO of the Shelter for Abused Women & Children, to gain insight into cases like these.

“Deputies have only the information that is available to them on scene, and so they just do the initial charges,” said Oberhaus. “And once they have a conversation, whether that be with the female who is 14 years old or the 17-year-old who is hospitalized, charges may be upgraded at that point.”

Oberhaus has read through police reports during her time at The Shelter, and this one had indications similar to high lethality victims of domestic violence.

“When you look at the police report here, there was strangulation involved, and that’s very serious,” explained Oberhaus. “We have an advocate who works with high lethality victims of domestic violence, and in many of those cases where that would result in a domestic violence homicide, strangulation is one of the top indicators of that.”

She added: “Him taking her phone was probably an effort for her to not be able to call 911 to get the help she needs.”

When it comes to domestic violence involving young people, Oberhaus said it’s a cycle.

“In the field of domestic violence, we know that there’s something called the cycle of violence, and we know that violence in the home tends to spill out into the community,” said Oberhaus. “It’s something that we talk about frequently.”

And breaking that cycle starts with being vigilant.

“Parents out there who may have teens living in the household, I just think it’s important to stay connected with them,” said Oberhaus. “Communication is important to know who their friends are, who they might be dating, and who they’re talking to online as well.”

Oberhaus also talked about the importance of keeping yourself safe too if you ever see domestic violence in action, because while Pantyushina survived his serious injuries, it could’ve been much worse.

“I would say, unless somebody is is physically being threatened or harmed,” said Oberhaus. “At that point, it’s best just to call 911, they’re trained, and they have all the necessary tools to be able to de escalate the situation and take someone into custody if that needs to happen.”

Retherford now faces nine felony charges, up from seven. Six of these charges have no bonds, while bonds for the remaining three charges are set at thousands of dollars.