Crime & Safety

Intoxicated Woman Wails on Police Officers, Nurse After Arrest

Kicking and screaming graduates from cliche status to reality during incident on Fig Tree Lane.

A Novato woman tried to bite, spit at and basically do a number on several police officers who were in the process of arresting her on suspicion of public intoxication, said.

And later she kicked a nurse who was trying to treat the woman for a self-inflicted head wound.

Officers were sent to an address on Fig Tree Lane at 9:51 a.m. after receiving a call about a possibly intoxicated driver and passenger, police Lt. Keith Heiden said. By the time officers arrived, the driver had fled, but they confronted a woman outside the home and were immediately threatened.

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"She indicated she was proficient in martial arts and was going to assault the officers," Heiden said.

An officer handcuffed the woman, whose intoxication was confirmed.

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The woman then kicked the doors of a police patrol car and banged her head off the trunk of the car while continuing with her threats, Heiden said. At that point she tried to bite and spit at one of the officers. She kicked another one in the leg, according to the police report.

The woman's head injury prompted the officers to take her to a local hospital to receive medical clearance prior to booking at Marin County Jail. While medical personnel tried to control the woman, she kicked one of the nurses in the chest, Heiden said. The nurse was not injured.

After being cleared,  Rosanne Elaine Harnois, 43, was booked and now faces misdemeanor charges for resisting arrest, battery on medical personnel and being drunk in public. She faces a felony drug charge after officers found she was in possession of prescription medication that wasn't in her name.

Novato police notified the California Highway Patrol about the allegedly intoxicated driver, who was headed toward Napa, Heiden said.


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