Nov. 03--A woman who prosecutors say tried to interfere with a drug-related arrest near her Austin neighborhood home was charged on Saturday with aggravated battery after kneeing an officer twice in the groin.
Around 6:35 p.m. on Saturday, a police officer noticed a man holding a "golf ball sized" plastic bag while seated in the driver seat of 2001 silver Chevy Impala in the 900 block of North Lawler Avenue in what was described as a "high narcotics area," according to court documents.
As the officer walked toward the car, the man, identified as Michael Simmons, of the 5200 block of West Crystal Street, got out of the car and tossed the bag under the car, according to documents. The officer recovered the bag, which contained 11 tinfoil packets of a white powdery substance suspected to be heroin. When police tried to talk to him, Simmons, 44, tried to walk away multiple times and was arrested at the scene.
As Simmons was being placed in custody, a woman from the 900 block of North Lawler Avenue approached where the arrest was taking place and began to yell profanities at the police officer, according to documents.
The woman, Tasha Brown, 35, was then arrested on a charge of obstructing a peace officer, the documents said. Once Brown was handcuffed, she struck the officer in the groin with her right knee. The officer then used an emergency takedown to prevent further attack, the documents said.
After Brown told the officer she had calmed down, the officer helped her stand up again and then she struck him again in the groin with her left knee, causing pain and tenderness to the officer's lower abdomen, according to the documents. She was then taken into custody and charged with one felony count of aggravated battery to a peace officer and one misdemeanor count of obstructing a peace officer.
Simmons also was charged with one felony possession of a controlled substance and one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest. He was ordered held in lieu of $15,000 during a bond court hearing on Sunday. Brown was ordered held on $30,000 bond.
