Woman Charged With Felony Resisting Arrest Causing Serious Injury

Columbia, CA — During a traffic stop a state park ranger wound up with at least a broken ankle and remains under a doctor’s care while a local woman faces related charges.

According to State Parks Superintendent Greg Martin, at Columbia State Park the unidentified ranger pulled over 36-year-old Cassidy Suzanne Coffey of Sonora on Parrotts Ferry Road near Fulton Street around noontime Saturday for using a cell phone and not wearing a seat belt.

“During the stop, the driver was becoming agitated and was reaching throughout the vehicle, and would not follow the ranger’s direction to stop,” Martin recalls. “Refusing to go along with the investigation, a struggle ensued and the driver fell onto the ranger.”

The injured man was subsequently examined by paramedics and taken to the hospital as Coffey was hauled off to the Tuolumne County Jail. Among the charges she faces is resisting a peace officer resulting in serious bodily injury.

Martin adds that an inventory of the car revealed a hammer between the driver-side door and driver’s seat, where Coffey had reportedly been reaching, as well as a knife in the center console. He says other swords, box cutters and knives were also found in the vehicle.