ST. GEORGE – A 21-year-old St. George woman was taken into custody by police early Sunday morning after allegedly assaulting another woman and fighting with officers.
Shortly after midnight Sunday, a St. George Police officer responded to a disturbance at a residence on 1470 West in Bloomington where it was reported that two women had been fighting. The officer encountered a woman outside who was identified as Melanie Janice Olson, of St. George, according to a probable cause statement.
The responding officer wrote in the statement that he smelled alcohol on Olson’s breath, and added she was shouting profanities at other individuals who were also outside.
“I told Melanie to keep her mouth shut because it was late at night and she was yelling loudly,” the officer wrote in the statement.
Olson kept yelling as the officer attempted to gather everyone in order to contain the situation while another woman exited the residence and Olson lunged after her.
The officer told Olson to stop and attempted to restrain her when she did not comply. Olson managed to pull away and began to assault the other woman, according to the probable cause statement.
The officer kept trying to restrain Olson until he was finally able to pin her against a parked car, bringing an end to her attack on the woman. She was put in handcuffs and made to sit on the curb until another officer arrived at the scene.
Olson continued yelling profanities when the new officer showed up and helped escort her to the other officer’s vehicle. Though told to “just sit there and chill,” by the original officer after being placed inside, Olson started kicking at the interior and the car door window.
“I was afraid the vehicle’s window was going to break so I quickly unlocked the vehicle,” the original officer wrote.
Once the door was opened, Olson started kicking and hitting one of the officers in the chest and knee area. As the two officers moved to restrain her again, she kicked the other officer in the knee. She was ultimately placed in a hobble restraint, according to the arrest statement.
Once Olson was restrained, officers investigated the area and spoke to the witnesses present. According to the officers’ preliminary findings, Olson went to the residence uninvited and was locked out. To gain the attention of those inside, she allegedly took a large rock and smashed it against a window.
“I observed a broken window on the front of the residence which was approximately 8 feet by 6 feet big,” the officer wrote. “I observed shattered window on the side of the front door … (and) a large rock in the vicinity of the broken glass.”
Damage to the home was estimated to be around $1,000.
Witnesses told police that, as Olson began to break the glass, the people inside opened the door to see what was going on. When this happened, she allegedly assaulted another woman by pulling her hair, the officer wrote in the statement.
As the officers conducted the investigation, Olson complained about her handcuffs. As one of the officers went to check on her, she proceeded to strike and kick him again.
The evening’s activities resulted in Olson’s being transported to the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility where she was booked with bail set near $16,000. She has since been released on bail and is set to appear before Judge John Walton Friday in 5th District Court.
Olson is currently charged with two third-degree felony counts of assault by a prisoner, plus various misdemeanor offenses for assault, intoxication, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and failing to stop at an officer’s command.
The number of charges and their severity may subject to change pending review by the Washington County Attorney’s Office.
Olsen has no prior criminal record beyond a 2017 infraction for a traffic offense, according to the Utah Courts system.
Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @MoriKessler
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.
She is repeatedly on the arrest page. She needs some counseling or lock her up for a few years????
Why is there no prior criminal records on her?
anybody need a babysitter ?
Yikes, that’s a rough “21”.
I’m curious if she was already in cuffs, how was she able to hit the officer when he opened the door??? I get the kicking, but the hitting??? If he cuffed her hands in front of her then he deserved it!!! Lol I mean you know the person is already combative and you don’t cuff them behind their back, well then!!!