Sandy woman charged after escaping with wanted man, assaulting federal officers at CVS
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A Salt Lake County woman was charged with federal crimes Thursday after she allegedly assaulted multiple U.S. Marshals while resisting arrest.
Melissa Lynn Trotter, 24, of Sandy, allegedly assaulted multiple federal law enforcement officers last week during the arrest of a wanted fugitive, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
On the evening of Feb. 7, Deputy U.S. Marshals and Task Force Officers of the District of Utah’s Violent Apprehension Strike Team attempted to arrest a fugitive outside a CVS in West Valley City. Trotter was reportedly in the vehicle with the fugitive when he exited the vehicle and entered the CVS.
It was not stated why the teams were looking for the fugitive.
When the fugitive returned to the vehicle, officers surrounded it with their vehicles and activated their red and blue lights. Despite law enforcement calls to Trotter to turn the vehicle off and drop the keys outside the window, she refused to comply, the DOJ said.
Trotter allegedly placed the vehicle in reverse and forcibly tried to back out of the parking space. She assaulted two federal officers by ramming the officers’ vehicles as they attempted to block her exit. Trotter then allegedly drove over a parking barrier and on the CVS customer sidewalk as she tried to escape through a vacant parking stall. Additionally, in doing so, she rammed head-on into the front passenger side of another federal law enforcement vehicle that had blocked that stall, the DOJ said.
A third U.S. Marshal reportedly positioned his vehicle to block Trotter from escaping, and she stopped her vehicle. She and the fugitive were taken into custody.
Trotter is charged with three counts of assaulting a federal officer using a deadly weapon and is scheduled to appear in court tomorrow, Feb. 16.
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