CLEARLAKE ? A woman was arrested Monday after leading officers on a vehicle pursuit through rural areas of Clearlake. The pursuit continued to the Austin Park area where officers arrested the woman after boxing her car in and deployment of a TASER.
Jantha Silverhame, 54, of Clearlake was arrested and charged with assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon and evading a peace officer with reckless driving.
Officers were reportedly dispatched at approximately 3:30 p.m. for a report of a female visitor who was allegedly acting strangely at Orchard Park Assisted Living and Memory Care Community on Burns Valley Road.
“According to witnesses at the location, the subject was a visitor who was talking incoherently while harassing residents whom she did not know,” Clearlake Police Lt. Mike Hermann said.
Officers arrived at the location and allegedly witnessed Silverhame driving erratically out of the parking lot in a 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander. A traffic stop was initiated by Officer Carl Miller who directed Silverhame to turn off her vehicle. The woman ignored the officer”s request and rolled up her window and locked the doors.
According to Lt. Hermann”s report, Officer Reghan Stuller arrived to assist and he and Miller attempted numerous times to get Silverhame out of the vehicle. She began fumbling with the gear shifter while trying to put the vehicle in drive.
“At that time, Officer Stuller broke out the passenger side window in an attempt to stop her from leaving,” Lt. Hermann said. “However, she quickly drove off before he could get the door open.”
Pursuit initiated as Silverhame continued to drive erratically, both on and off road. The woman led officers on a chase down Rumsey Road and up Smith Lane before coming back out onto Burns Valley Road via Reed Lane. Silverhame drove into town via Olympic Drive after driving around a partial road block.
“She then drove around another police vehicle and was finally boxed in by police near the Austin Beach parking lot,” Lt. Hermann said. “During that time, Silverhame intentionally drove forward and back several times into the police vehicles causing moderate damage to all four. She continued her attempts to free her vehicle until she was successfully struck with a TASER and incapacitated.”
The vehicle was placed into “park” and Silverhame was taken into custody without further problems.
No injuries were reported as a result of incident. Silverhame was transported to the hospital where she was medically cleared for incarceration. She was transported and booked into Lake County Jail and the case has been forwarded to the District Attorney”s Office for complaint and review of additional charges.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
