On Monday morning around 5:40 a.m., a Tucson Police Department Community Service Officer (CSO) was in a secure parking lot of the Westside Substation before the start of his shift. He noticed a vehicle driving towards one of the gates at a high rate of speed. The vehicle struck and significantly damaged the gate, knocking it out of the track and sending it flying in the parking lot.
Although the officer was in very close proximity to the incident, our CSO was fortunately not injured in the collision. He was able to direct responding officers to the scene, and they were able to take 51-year-old Michele Murphy into custody without incident.
Detectives responded to assist with the investigation. They were able to determine that this act was intentional, and was not an accidental traffic collision. Ms. Murphy was booked into the Pima County Jail on felony charges of aggravated assault and criminal damage.