A young woman who had to be restrained by four people at a Sierra Vista hospital so a blood draw could be performed is set for a pretrial conference next month on charges related to DUI, trying to grab a police officer’s gun, and refusing to cooperate with a court order.
Amanda Danielle Sargent was booked into the Cochise County jail on July 13 shortly after 10 p.m. She had been pulled over by Sierra Vista Ofc. Nathan Drake just before 6 p.m. while driving a pickup truck with expired plates in a manner “consistent with impairment,” the officer noted in a statement of probable cause.
According to Drake’s statement, Sargent “sped up and slowed down multiple times and could not drive her vehicle and maintain a straight path.” At one point the officer used his vehicle’s loudspeaker to get the driver’s attention even though he had his patrol car emergency lights activated.
But Sargent, 20, was far from cooperative after pulling over, including her refusal to turn off the vehicle as instructed, Drake wrote in his statement.
“Amanda appeared dazed, staring off into space while speaking with her,” he noted. “She made multiple incoherent statements and refused to provide straight forward responses.”
According to Drake, what could have been a typical DUI arrest quickly escalated when Sargent refused to get out of the pickup. Additional SVPD officers responded to the scene and Drake took hold of Sargent’s arm in an effort to remove her from the vehicle.
“Amanda attempted to grab my weapon as she was taken into detention as well as resisted when officers attempted to place her in handcuffs,” he wrote. “Amanda pulled away and tried to run upon placing her into handcuffs.”
Even after Sargent was cuffed she reportedly continued to be uncooperative, refusing to acknowledge Miranda Warnings or to participate in standard field sobriety tests. The lack of cooperation continued once it was determined a blood draw was needed as evidence that Sargent was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
“She refused a blood draw and testing, and when a warrant was obtained she refused to comply and physically resisted as officers tried to take her blood from her arm, jerking her arm and torso to prevent the blood draw,” Drake wrote.
Sargent was transported to Canyon Vista Medical Center where she was physically restrained by four people so the court-authorized blood draw could be performed. From there she was turned over to jail staff with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office.
Sargent was released from jail the next morning by order of a justice of the peace. The order notes the type of release was personal recognizance. A pretrial conference is set for Aug. 17 at the Sierra Vista Justice Court.
A warrant could be issued for Sargent’s arrest if she fails to appear for the hearing.
