A 49-year-old Newport Beach woman who tried to run down a sheriff’s officer at John Wayne Airport was sentenced Thursday to a year in jail, followed by three years of formal probation.
The sheriff’s special officer, who was on bicycle patrol, heard what sounded like a collision in a parking garage on July 16, 2013, and was directed by a witness to a dark-colored SUV driven by Rebecca Lee McLaughlin, said sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock.
McLaughlin suddenly backed up the Toyota Sequoia and then drove toward the officer, who ended up on the hood of the vehicle, according to Hallock.
The officer managed to get McLaughlin out of the SUV and arrest her before being taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries, Hallock said.
The officer was thrown about 20 feet and his bicycle was destroyed, according to authorities, who said the SUV came to a stop when it jumped a curb and slammed into a parking pole.
McLaughlin pleaded guilty July 22 to assault with a deadly weapon with force likely to produce great bodily injury. An attempted murder charge was dismissed Sept. 12.
Sheriff’s special officers are uniformed civilians who have the authority to make misdemeanor arrests, detain felony suspects and carry a weapon.
— City News Service