CHAMBERSBURG (Sept. 12, 2019) — Nakiah Denise Spriggs, 19, faces felony assault charges resulting from an attack Wednesday morning on a police officer.
Nakiah Denise Spriggs 
Darren Gardner
The 10:17 a.m. incident apparently started as a domestic violence incident between Spriggs and a passenger in her car, Darren Gardner, 22.
A Chambersburg police officer stopped to investigate when he saw two vehicles sitting in the eastbound lane on East McKinley Street, near Chambersburg Area Senior High School.
When the westbound police cruiser passed, the driver of the first vehicle started honking at him. By the time he turned around, that driver was walking back toward the second vehicle.
The woman told the officer she witnessed a physical fight between Spriggs and Gardner while driving on McKinley.
When the officer told Spriggs to pull her car over to the side of the road, Gardner became agitated, yelling obscenities at the witness. Spriggs refused to move the car.
She had a “mark” on her left eye, the officer said in court documents, leading him to believe Spriggs and Gardner had been fighting.
Diffusing the Situation Doesn’t Always Work
Hoping to defuse a potentially violent situation, the officer told the screaming Gardner to get out of the car. Outside, Gardner refused to step back from the vehicle. When the officer tried to handcuff a then agitated Gardner, Spriggs jumped out of the car.
As the officer and a second policeman who arrived at the scene searched Gardner, Spriggs sprinted, screaming, toward the two officers.
At one point she took a swing at the second officer with her closed fist, punching him in the mouth. The two officers wrestled Spriggs to the ground in a struggle to handcuff her. Gardner finally cooperated after officers threatened to use a taser to subdue her.
By this time a crowd had gathered. Gardner’s car was still blocking the eastbound lane of McKinley and Gardner started banging her head on the window of the police cruiser.
Police said the incident lasted about 15 minutes, creating a major traffic hazard.
Spriggs has been charged with the following crimes:
- Felony 2 Aggravated Assault
- Misdemeanor 2 Resisting Arrest/Other Law Enforce
- Misdemeanor 3 Disorderly Conduct Hazardous/Physical
She posted a $50,000 bail today, with the help of a bail bondsman. Her preliminary hearing is next Tuesday.
Darren Gardner was arrested for disorderly conduct, a third degree misdemeanor, police said.
[td_block_2 custom_title=”Local Crime News” header_color=”#000000″ category_id=”519″ header_text_color=”#ffffff” limit=”4″ limit=”4″ offset=”1″]
