Woman charged with assaulting Cape officer

A Whitewater woman was charged with assaulting a Cape Girardeau police officer after a traffic stop Monday, police said.

Cape Girardeau police arrested Rachel Dawn Ware, 29, of Whitewater on Tuesday, and the Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged her with felony assault in the third degree on a special victim, misdemeanor resisting arrest and misdemeanor driving while intoxicated. Her bond was set at $7,500 cash or surety, with the condition she not consume any intoxicating beverages.

Officer Brett Hellmann wrote in a probable-cause statement Ware lunged at him in an aggressive manner when she left her vehicle after the traffic stop. When Ware was taken to the police station, she punched officer Aaron Goins in the chest, then kicked him in the leg when her hands were restrained, Hellmann wrote.

Hellmann stopped Ware for speeding just before midnight near the intersection of William Street and West End Boulevard, according to the statement. Hellmann could smell an intoxicating beverage emitting from the vehicle, and Ware admitted she was driving way too fast, he wrote.

Ware declined to perform a field sobriety test and said she was drunk, Hellmann wrote. She left the vehicle of her own volition but tried to pull away from Hellmann multiple times before he could put her into his patrol car, which accounted for the resisting-arrest charge, according to the statement.

Ware's breath sample at police headquarters tested at a blood alcohol content of .211, more than twice the legal limit of .08, Hellmann wrote.

bkleine@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address: 40 S. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, MO