Woman charged with assault

A 28-year-old woman was charged Monday with punching a Cape Girardeau police officer who pulled her over for drunken driving.

Mary M. Chalmers of McClure, Ill., was charged with felony assault of a law enforcement officer, felony driving while intoxicated, misdemeanor driving while license was revoked, and was cited with failure to drive on the right half of the roadway.

Around 11:42 p.m. Sunday, a Cape Girardeau police officer pulled Chalmers over at William Street and Farrar Drive when he noticed her crossing the center line several times, according to the probable cause statement.

During the traffic stop, the officer noticed Chalmers smelled like alcohol and had watery and bloodshot eyes.

Despite being told several times by the officer, Chalmers continually attempted to reach for something in the passenger seat which later turned out to be an open bottle of whiskey, police spokesman Jason Selzer said.

When the officer asked Chalmers to step out of her car, she swung a closed fist and punched the officer in the chin, the statement said.

The defendant, who had a blood-alcohol content level of 0.115, had bond set at $10,000.