Chase suspect denies guilt

A Springfield teenager was ordered to observe a curfew at night and abide by the instructions on her prescriptions while she awaits trial following a series of alleged disturbances and a brief car chase with police a week ago.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20101129/NEWS02/711299951

Published November 29, 2010 in the Rutland Herald         Chase suspect denies guilt         By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT         SPRINGFIELD — A Springfield teenager was ordered to observe a curfew at night and abide by the instructions on her prescriptions while she awaits trial following a series of alleged disturbances and a brief car chase with police a week ago.         Courtney Griffin, 19, was released on pre-trial conditions from the criminal court in White River Junction after she pleaded innocent to two misdemeanor counts of simple assault and an additional charge of attempting to elude police.         Springfield Police Officer Daniel Deslaurier wrote in an affidavit filed with the court that Griffin showed up at the police station just after midnight in what he described as a “moderately impaired” state to report that her prescription medication had been stolen. Deslaurier said that she allegedly admitted to taking twice the prescribed dose that day and he said she was slurring her speech and having trouble standing while experiencing mood swings ranging from “calm” to “yelling and swearing and crying” while allegedly “using extremely vulgar language throughout the time I was present.”         Deslaurier said he and another officer accompanied Griffin back to her apartment on Main Street but concluded that she was too agitated to continue their investigation that night. A half an hour after the police left, Deslaurier said other Main Street residents called saying that Griffin had just attacked them, leaving one with an injury to her elbow and a scratch under her eye. Police returned and took statements from several witnesses but were not able to locate Griffin, Deslaurier said, adding that he was called back less than an hour later, just after 2 a.m., when the same residents called to report that someone had just hurled a ceramic top from a toilet tank through their glass front door.         Suspecting Griffin was involved, Deslaurier wrote that he started driving towards Griffin’s boyfriend’s residence when he spotted a vehicle ahead of him on Brook Road traveling to the left of the double yellow line. After he tried to pull that car over by activating his blue lights, Deslaurier said the vehicle failed to pull over for a period of time before eventually turning on to Town Farm Road and pulling into ditch. Griffin got out from behind the wheel and was “extremely agitated and verbally hostile towards officers on the scene,” Deslaurier wrote, noting that she also had a young child in her car despite the lack of a car seat.         After Griffin allegedly refused to participate in field sobriety exercises, she was taken to the Springfield Hospital so police could obtain a blood sample from her for testing. Deslaurier said Griffin went from cooperative to “volatile” and created a scene during her stay in the emergency room. http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20101129/NEWS02/711299951