URBANA — An Indianapolis man who savagely beat a woman he had met hours earlier was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison and ordered to make restitution of $10,736 to her.

Nicholas Bradshaw, 21, pleaded guilty in January to aggravated battery, admitting that he repeatedly punched the face of Melissa Dodson, 29, while she was in her home in the 2500 block of West Springfield Avenue, Champaign, on July 21.

Dodson told Champaign County Judge Heidi Ladd in her victim impact statement, which she read aloud during the sentencing hearing, that her girlfriend introduced her to Bradshaw and another man at a local bar. The group decided to go back to Dodson’s home.

Dodson said her girlfriend became uncomfortable about the men so the women asked them to leave, which they did.

Minutes later, a woman buzzed Dodson’s intercom asking that she or the men be admitted to retrieve Bradshaw’s wallet. Dodson refused and shortly thereafter, Bradshaw scaled the outside of the building and entered through her third-floor balcony.

Dodson said she told him to leave as he made his way around the apartment looking for his wallet. As she headed for her bedroom to call police, he began punching her in the face with a closed fist and choked her, she said.

Dodson said she awoke in the hospital, where she was treated for a blow to the eye and a ripped lip. She has needed oral surgery, will eventually need plastic surgery, and has incurred about $10,000 in medical bills.

A military veteran who recently completed eight years of active duty, Dodson said the attack left her seriously shaken.

“His poor choice violated my whole being and made my American dream a nightmare,” she said.
“Bradshaw’s violent act of uncontrollable rage bleeds into every aspect of my life. My scarred face is a daily reminder of his brutality and the way he left me for dead, in a pool of my own blood. I was willing to sacrifice my blood for my country but not for this,” she said.

Bradshaw had initially been charged with home invasion but was allowed to plead guilty to the less serious aggravated battery as a result of a plea agreement worked out between Assistant State’s Attorney Adam Dill and Bradshaw’s attorney, Ed Piraino of Champaign.

Court records show Bradshaw had prior convictions in Indiana and had been placed on probation for driving under the influence eight days before the battery to Dodson.