Woman Goes to Jail for One Year for Spitting Upon and Kicking Police

Chamesa Melissa Edmonds, a 20-year-old Kenbridge woman, was sentenced to two mandatory jail sentences of six months each for a total of 12 months in jail in Lunenburg Circuit Court recently as a result of spitting in the face of two law enforcement officers and kicking two others while being arrested on a fugitive warrant from North Carolina.  She was convicted of two felony counts of Assault and Battery Upon a Law Enforcement Officer.

  According to a summary of the evidence provided in court, two Lunenburg deputies and two state police agents were executing a fugitive warrant for charges pending in North Carolina as an accomplice for an alleged robbery.  They recognized Edmonds as she was walking near the intersection of 6th Avenue and Broad Street in Kenbridge.  When told she was under arrest, she requested that she be allowed to go home first to say good-bye to her child.  She had one child with her at the time of the arrest.  When told she would not be allowed to leave, she became belligerent, screaming loudly, and cursing at the police.

As she was being put into the police car, she kicked one officer in the leg, and another in the left side and shoulder.  When Sgt. Kevin Abernathy was putting leg restraints on her, she spit into the face of Abernathy, also hitting Deputy Keith Phillips.  A spit mask was then put on her face.  She continued to kick and scream.  In route to the Sheriff’s Office, Sgt. Abernathy had to stop his vehicle and place another restraining device on her legs to prevent her from continuously kicking inside the car.  When placed in the holding cell, she continued to kick and scream.  A search of her purse revealed a small amount of green, leafy plant material, which appeared to be marijuana, according to the officer.  She pled guilty in General District Court earlier to Possession of Marijuana and received a 30-day suspended sentence. Her 9 years of suspended sentence has conditions of good behavior including abstaining from and not possessing illegal drugs, and warrantless searches.