Woman waives hearing in alleged assault of Jasper officer

Jeff Lehr, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·2 min read

Jul. 18—A Columbia woman accused of participating in a serious assault of a Jasper police officer in October waived a preliminary hearing Thursday and was ordered bound over for trial.

Raven C. Gomez, 27, waived the hearing in Jasper County Circuit Court on a charge of first-degree assault of a special victim, a crime that can carry up to 30 years in prison.

Gomez and Brandon L. David, 45, also of Columbia, are accused of assaulting police Sgt. Amber Ashby on Oct. 16 by punching her in the face several times, knocking her to the ground and running over her foot with their vehicle as they fled the scene outside Pete's convenience store along Interstate 49 on the east side of Jasper.

They were arrested a couple of days later on the property of David's parents in rural Allen County, Kansas.

Ashby was responding to a reported disturbance at Pete's involving a man and woman fighting in their car when she made contact with the pair. According to Jasper police Chief Chad Karr, Ashby was searching Gomez, the driver, who suddenly turned and punched her, knocking Ashby to the ground.

The officer's head struck the pavement, causing her to become temporarily disoriented as David jumped out of the passenger side of their Chevrolet Cruze and punched her several times with a fist in "haymaker" fashion, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed with the charges.

David then purportedly ran to Ashby's patrol car and appeared for a moment to be intent on stealing it before running back to the couple's car and fleeing with Gomez at the wheel. In the course of backing up and speeding off, their car ran over Ashby's foot twice, according to Karr.

The officer was left with a bruised face and sprained ankle and required some time off to recover.

David was on parole at the time on a conviction for tampering with a motor vehicle. In the course of tracking the suspects down, Jasper police learned that the couple were suspects in the theft of items from a convenience store in Fort Scott, Kansas. They ultimately were found hiding in a bus on the property of David's parents.

Gomez is facing charges in Kansas as well for allegedly assaulting another female inmate while in jail awaiting extradition to Missouri.

Judge Joseph Hensley set her initial appearance in a trial division of Jasper County Circuit Court for Aug. 14. David, who also is charged with first-degree assault of a special victim, has yet to have a preliminary hearing. His next court appearance is set for July 31.