69-year-old woman accused of knocking down UCF police officer

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A 69-year-old woman is facing multiple charges after she was accused of punching a University of Central Florida police officer on campus Monday afternoon.

According to an affidavit, a UCF Police officer responded to the Duke Energy Welcome Center on campus at 12:22 p.m. in reference to a woman who “stated she had been kidnapped by unknown persons.”

Police said while they were talking to the woman, she pulled out a knife and charged at the officer. After the officer backed away, the woman continued to wave the knife and approach the officer.

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According to the affidavit, a campus police commander who was nearby pointed his gun at the woman and ordered her to drop the knife, which she refused.

One officer managed to get the woman to the ground in a prone position while another officer “maintained control of her wrist.”

While the commander helped secure the woman and the knife, the woman reached up and struck an officer in the middle of the chest with her clenched fist, officials said.

According to the affidavit, while handcuffing the woman, officers began assisting the first officer who approached the suspect. The officer suffered a laceration to her left arm, police said. “The laceration was consistent with a knife cut and was caused in the same manner as (the woman) was moving when she lunged at the officer,” the affidavit states.

While holding the woman, she appeared to faint before regaining consciousness, police said. She added that she started screaming, she couldn’t breathe, she had been kidnapped and she was a veteran.

Police said the woman then became violent by tensing her body and pulling away from officers. When officers told her to stop resisting, she ignored the officers’ commands and continued to disobey them, police said.

The woman is charged with attempted murder of a police officer, aggravated assault on a police officer, assault on a police officer, aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting an officer with force and resisting an officer without force.

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