Melissa Karen Tippett
A Jonesboro woman who was pulled over after careless driving Wednesday night urinated on a police officer who was trying to search her, authorities say.
Melissa Karen Tippett, 48, was driving a gray Ford Taurus without her headlights on around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday when police pulled her over for a traffic stop, according to a Jonesboro Police Department report.
When an officer stopped her in the 300 block of State Street in Jonesboro, he smelled an “odor of intoxicants coming from her” and found that her driver’s license had been suspended, the report said. He told Tippett to walk to his vehicle, but while she was walking, “she kept swaying and losing her balance,” police said. The officer said her eyes were “glossy red.”
A second officer attempted to search Tippett before she entered the vehicle. That officer told Tippett to stand in front of the vehicle and spread her feet apart for the search.
“Tippett would not spread her feet apart,” the officer said in the report. “I continued to give her verbal commands to spread her feet apart, and Tippett stated no multiple times.”
The officer pulled Tippett’s feet apart in order to search her.
“As I was searching Tippett began to urinate, and my left hand was soaked in urine,” the officer said.
The first officer put a towel down in his car, then put Tippett in the vehicle, the report said. While in the car, Tippett screamed profanities at police, according to the report.
A Breathalyzer test showed that Tippett’s BAC was .17, double the legal limit, police said.
Tippett faces several charges, including DWI; driving while license canceled, suspended, or revoked; aggravated assault upon a certified law enforcement officer; and careless and prohibited driving, according to the report.
Tippett is being held in the Craighead County jail in lieu of $2,525 bond, police said. A Monday court date has been set.
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