Posted on 11/18/2013 8:06:25 AM PST by Gamecock
PARIS — A Dixfield woman arrested at Dirigo Elementary School earlier this week appeared Friday in 11th District Court in South Paris to face multiple charges.
Beverly Lunsford, 27, was arrested around 6 p.m. Wednesday and was nearly dragged out of the school's gymnasium by police after her refusal to complete a field sobriety test, according to a report from Maine State Trooper Jason Wing.
Lunsford faces disorderly conduct, refusing to submit to arrest, unlawful possession of drugs and violation of conditions of release, all misdemeanor charges. Police responded to a call from the school at about 4 p.m. reporting that Lunsford had taken nearly 15 minutes to park her vehicle and was believed to be impaired, according to Wing's report.
Lunsford was attending a parent-teacher conference with her child when Wing and Oxford County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Timothy Holland arrived at the school, the trooper said. Other parents, teachers and students were at the school during the incident.
After the conference was over, Wing interviewed Lunsford in the school's gymnasium. She admitted to having difficulty parking but blamed it on faulty power steering. She told Wing that she was using medication for which she had a prescription.
Wing attempted to arrest Lunsford for OUI after she faltered several times during a field sobriety test then became "confrontational and uncooperative" and refused to finish the test.
Lunsford struggled against Wing's attempt to arrest her, screamed and swore at him, Wing said. Her resistance was so intense, Wing reported, that he had to "nearly drag her out of the school and to my cruiser."
Lunsford continued to struggle and scream and officers and passers-by, even after Wing managed to force her into his cruiser. She also complained that she couldn't breathe and the handcuffs were cutting her wrists, prompting Wing to call for an ambulance. Medics confirmed Lunsford's condition before she was transported to the Oxford County Jail.
According to Wing's report, Lunsford admitted to snorting her prescription for busiprone, a drug used to treat anxiety, and police found a snorting straw with her prescription.
Lunsford was released on $500 cash bail on Friday afternoon. She is expected to appear in Rumford District Court on Jan. 13.
Better absorption that way.
Given a field sobriety test, and arrested in the gymnasium - after the parent/teacher conferences, but before getting in her car - for operating a motor vehicle while being intoxicated, and for resisting arrest?
Prayers for her children.
Confidential to editors everywhere: if you are publishing your work on the internet, please add your state or province to the byline.
There were witnesses who watched her drive in to the school parking lot and attempt to park for 15 minutes. She was in a conference and if the witness says she wasn't consuming the alcohol/drugs there then she had to have done it before she drove to the school. Yeah, these facts could support an OWI conviction.
If she had a prescription for it, why is it any of the police’s business HOW she took it ???
And her children's teachers.
Is it just me or does that look like a face photoshopped onto another person?
That said, I think she’s cute.
Maybe somewhere in the fine print of all the paper they stuffed into the bag along with the bottle, it says that it can only be taken as prescribed or else there is a violation of some law.
If so, then it is another example of how there are WAY too many laws.
Sad - reminds me of Dennis Hopper in “Hoosiers” - that poor kid.
Well, with place names like "Dixfield", "Paris" and "South Paris", EVERYBODY should know it's in Maine! Right off route 26. ;-)
The officer did not observe her driving.
He had no sworn statement or warrant.
Even if you take the report from the witness, what road or highway was she operating on ?
Also, I live in Maine. Every native Mainer expects you to know where every town is and every business that has operated in the last fifty years. (Also, check my tagline)
The officer doesn't need to see her drive he just needs a witness or admission from the defendant and in this case he had both. Nor does an officer need a statement or warrant. Yet, he did have a statement from her and since the statement was not a result of custodial interrogation he didn't need to mirandize the witness. People get convicted of OWI every day on facts like this. When an OWI causes an accident the officer rarely sees the defendant driving - he shows up after the fact. The operating element of the charge is supplied by witnesses or the defendant's own statement.
Hey! What are you doing coming on this thread making sense like that?
I agree - I immediately thought of Paris, Texas.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.