NORWAY — A 46-year-old woman was arrested Saturday on charges that she drove drunk and assaulted an officer trying to arrest her.
Diane M. Baker, of Round the Pond Road in Norway, was initially charged with two felony counts of assault on an officer, as well as operating under the influence, failure to submit to arrest, and refusing to sign a uniform traffic ticket. The District Attorney’s Office later reduced the charges to misdemeanor assault, operating under the influence and refusing to submit to arrest.
According to a report by officer Holli Pullen of the Norway Police Department, a vehicle was reported off the road on Round the Pond Road shortly before 3:45 p.m. Pullen said Baker had been intoxicated and uncooperative about an hour and a half before, when she spoke with Baker about a dispute Baker was having with her boyfriend.
Pullen said the car was off the road and abandoned when she arrived, and that it smelled of intoxicants. She said she and officer Bill Cook of the Paris Police Department went to Baker’s residence about an hour after the call and found her asleep on a couch. Pullen said a pair of shoes near the couch matched footprints found at the car, and that Baker told them she was unaware the vehicle was not at the residence.
Pullen said Baker became uncooperative when she was told she would be arrested. Pullen said Baker tried to burn her with a cigarette when she and Cook raised Baker to her feet. She said Baker also kicked her in the chest, spat at her, and grabbed her her left side.
Pullen said she struck Baker in the abdomen because she thought she was trying to get her Taser. Pullen said she also struck Baker with the heel of her hand after she began spitting, and grabbed Baker’s hair to hold her head. She said Cook was then able to get one of Baker’s arms behind her back.
According to Baker’s jail information, she has worked as a registered nurse for 21 years but declined to say where. A representative from Bridgton Hospital said she formerly worked there as a certified nursing assistant. After her initial appearance in the South Paris District Court on Monday, Baker’s bail was reduced from $1,000 to personal recognizance. She had been released from the Oxford County Jail by Monday afternoon.
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