The fracas started with a spat between two strangers on Facebook but escalated to a showdown with one beating the other with a mini baseball bat, according to criminal charges.

Bridget L. Olson, 31, of St. Paul, has been charged with second-degree felony assault in connection with the Sept. 4 attack on another woman.

Olson struck the other woman in the face and head about 10 times with a baseball bat at White Bear and Ivy avenues in St. Paul and also slammed the victim's head into the street, according to the complaint.

"Olson said the bat was in her van, and officers later recovered a small, wooden baseball bat that had bloodstains on it," the complaint said. "At one point, Olson admitted she used both hands to slam [the woman's] head on the street in order to get [the woman] to stop fighting."

According to the complaint: Olson and the other woman got into an argument on Facebook, and the woman suggested to Olson that they meet to resolve the problem. Olson suggested their meeting location. The two women had never met before.

The complaint does not disclose the nature of the Facebook feud, nor the victim's name.

The woman drove to the location and saw Olson in the street allegedly holding a small baseball bat. The woman remained in her vehicle and implored Olson to put away the bat so "they could handle this like women," the complaint said.

Instead, authorities say that Olson reached into the woman's car and struck her in the face and head with the bat four to five times. She then allegedly pulled the woman out of the car.

The woman slapped the bat away, the complaint said, before the two started rolling around on the ground, brawling.

"Olson straddled [the woman] and punched her in the face, and after a minute or so, Olson got up and ran toward her baseball bat," the complaint said. "Olson got the bat and struck [the woman] 4-5 times in the head and face as she lay on her back on the street."

Olson eventually fled in her minivan, tailed by the woman, the complaint said. The woman could not reach her cellphone, so she followed Olson and in an attempt to stop Olson, tapped the back of Olson's van with her car.

The woman continued to follow Olson until both stopped at the sight of a police squad car. The officer noticed that the woman was "bleeding heavily," her face covered in blood, according to the complaint.

Joy Powell • 612-673-7750