More often, the public is made aware of crimes involving guns, and it is less frequent to hear about crimes involving other weapons. A knife-wielding woman from California was arrested after she came close to striking the cruiser of an Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper on Friday.
AZ Central reports that the incident happened along Interstate 10 in Buckeye. According to a statement given by DPS spokesperson Bart Graves, DPS troopers had set up a blockade along the shoulder of the highway to prevent vehicles from passing a fatal crash scene as it was being investigated.
The original crash happened near Watson Road and Verrado Way.
A woman from Stockton, California, 41-year-old Chavon Maniates, attempted to get around the roadblock by going onto the shoulder. In doing so, Maniates nearly crashed her vehicle into a DPS cruiser.
DPS officers initiated a traffic stop, but Maniates refused to pull over. Law enforcement officers deployed spike strips to stop the car, which was successful. When her vehicle was disabled, Manites, along with two children, emerged from the vehicle. Maniates brandished a knife at officers.
Officers at the scene used a Taser on Maniates, and she was later taken into custody. The two children who were with her at the time were unharmed and released to family members.
Maniates has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of endangerment, reckless driving, and one count of felony flight.
No further information about the incident has been released at this time.
