A Greenbriar woman was found guilty of assault last week and sentenced to two months in jail. She is Jessica Marie Shaeffer, 23, of 13121 Sparrow Tail Lane. She's also been indicted by the grand jury on two other charges and is slated to enter a plea in court next month.
Her legal troubles began April 18, around 2 a.m., when a Fairfax County police officer pulled over a car over at Stone Road and Awbrey Patent Drive in Centreville. Police said a search yielded narcotics, and two of the three passengers — Shaeffer and Katherine Irby Jones, 27, of 706-B 23rd St. in Virginia Beach — were arrested.
THE CAR'S DRIVER received a summons for driving outside the restrictions on his license and was released at the scene. The third passenger was not charged. The officer then headed to the Adult Detention Center with Shaeffer and Jones.
That's when things got dicey. Along the way, said police, Shaeffer freed one of her hands from the handcuffs. She then grabbed the officer’s shirt through the window dividing him from them and also tried to get a hold of the cruiser's steering wheel.
According to police, the officer struck her several times, in an effort to get her to release her grip, and pulled the cruiser over. A second officer arrived to assist, and they both handcuffed Shaeffer again and attached ankle restraints.
Police charged her with possession of a controlled substance (narcotics), assault on a police officer, attempted escape with force and possession of marijuana. She was released from jail two days later, April 20, on $3,000 bond.
She appeared last Monday, July 10, in General District Court and, at that time, the marijuana charge was dropped. The offense of assault on a police officer was reduced to assault, and Judge Mitchell Mutnick found her guilty. He then sentenced her to 12 months in jail and suspended 10 months.
The controlled-substance and attempted-escape charges were certified to the grand jury for possible indictment. And on Monday, July 17, that's exactly what the grand jury did. Shaeffer is scheduled to enter pleas to both charges, Aug. 21, in Circuit Court.