Borough Police: Paxinos woman attempted to escape, assaulted officer
SHENANDOAH – A Paxinos woman is facing felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor escape charges, accused of slipping out of handcuffs, attempting to flee the borough police station, and assaulting an officer in the groin.
Melanie Guinther, 41, of 645 Mountain Road, was arrested Friday at Shenandoah’s Burger King location after she provided a false name to police.
According to court documents filed by Patrolman Matthew Williams, Shenandoah Police and Mahanoy City Ambulance were called to the burger chain around 6pm for a woman slumped over the driver’s seat of a vehicle.
When first responders arrived, the manager of the restaurant said the woman had come inside and was standing near the counter.
Police and EMS approached the woman, later identified as Guinther, and told them why they had been called.
Williams said she seemed slightly lethargic and displayed dilated pupils, and she denied being under the influence of a controlled substance and refused medical treatment.
When asked to identify herself, she provided a different name and date of birth, providing a name for someone with a different eye color than her. Guinther also told police she did not have her license on her.
Williams notified her she was subject to a police investigation and requested her real name again, to which she provided the false name.
Guinther was placed in custody but attempted to pull away when placed in handcuffs. She was taken out of the restaurant and placed in a Shenandoah Police patrol car. Guinther, Williams said, asked police to take the keys out of her vehicle and retrieve her purse. Inside the purse was Guinther’s ID, police said.
The Schuylkill County Communications Center conducted a warrant search on Guinther’s name, finding two active bench warrants out of Monroe County for felony retail theft and misdemeanor DUI.
She was taken back to the Shenandoah police station and, when Williams opened the rear door of the patrol car, she attempted to flee, with her left wrist free from handcuffs.
Williams grabbed her and Guinther attempted to pull away, Williams wrote in the complaint. Williams brought the woman to the ground, at which point, she grabbed the patrolman’s groin and squeezed.
Additional police officers were requested as Guinther refused to let go. The patrolman then struck the woman in the forehead with an open hand to get her to loosen her grip.
West Mahanoy Township Police arrived moments later and assisted in restraining Guinther and bringing her into the police station.
Guinther was then searched by Shenandoah Patrolman Mindy Petrus and Frackville Patrolman Devin Dellock, both female officers.
Guinther was in possession of a small tan pouch containing two clear baggies of a white powdery substance, a small red baggie of a white powdery substance, a white glassine pack with half a gram of white powdery substance, 22 small clear plastic baggies “commonly used for packaging controlled substances,” five empty packs “commonly used for packaging heroin or fentanyl,” and two pieces of straw with a white powdery residue.
She was then taken by Shenandoah Ambulance to Lehigh Valley Hospital – Schuylkill in Pottsville for evaluation of any injuries she sustained in the earlier scuffle.
A test of the powdery substances, Phillips said, indicated they were fentanyl.
Guinther was taken into custody on the bench warrants.
She is facing felony aggravated assault, and misdemeanor escape, false identification, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia charges. She will appear before Magisterial District Judge Anthony Kilker on these charges later this month.
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