A 47-year-old Dunmore woman is facing felony assault charges after police say she kicked an officer, tore up an apartment on Franklin Avenue and fled to a downtown bank parking area before her arrest Sunday. Kay Elizabeth Brier, of 1704 Marion Street, remained held in Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail as of Monday.
Scranton police were dispatched to 132 Franklin Avenue at 12:06 p.m. Sunday after receiving a report of a disorderly female, according to the Scranton Times-Tribune. By the time officers responded, Brier had already fled the residence and run toward the PNC Bank on Penn Avenue, per the same report.
Officers located Brier sitting next to an overturned trash can with garbage scattered around her outside the bank, the paper reported. Police said they detected an odor of alcohol coming from her, and a half-drunk bottle of wine was found next to her feet. According to the account, Brier turned defensive toward officers, screaming and acting disorderly as they attempted to place her under arrest for public drunkenness.
Officer Struck During Arrest, Police Say
As officers tried to take her into custody, Brier allegedly struck one of them in the shin and near the groin, and kicked backward twice during the struggle, the report states. Those actions form the basis of the aggravated assault charge, which under 18 Pa.C.S. § 2702(a)(3) is graded as a second-degree felony in Pennsylvania when the alleged victim is a police officer performing official duties, carrying a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Police also charged Brier with resisting arrest, a second-degree misdemeanor under 18 Pa.C.S. § 5104 that applies when someone creates a substantial risk of bodily injury while trying to prevent a lawful arrest. She additionally faces a summary public drunkenness charge under 18 Pa.C.S. § 5505, which carries a maximum fine of up to $500 for a first offense.
Apartment and Flower Pots Damaged, Resident Tells Police
Back at the Franklin Avenue property, officers observed multiple damaged and overturned flower pots outside the residence. A male on the scene told police that Brier had damaged the flower pots and destroyed his apartment, according to the report — allegations that led to the criminal mischief charge rounding out the case against her.
Criminal mischief charges in Pennsylvania are graded under 18 Pa.C.S. § 3304 according to the dollar value of the property destroyed, with penalties ranging from a summary offense for minor losses up to a felony for high-value damage. No financial assessment of the apartment or flower pot damage has been made public.
What Happens Next
Brier's preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 26 at 10:30 a.m. Those hearings are centralized at Central Court on the ground floor of the Lackawanna County Courthouse at 200 North Washington Avenue in downtown Scranton, where a magisterial district judge will determine whether prosecutors have presented enough evidence to send the felony charge to the Court of Common Pleas. Lackawanna County's minor judiciary is divided into 10 magisterial districts, whose elected judges handle arraignments, set bail and preside over preliminary matters countywide.
In the meantime, Brier remains at Lackawanna County Prison, a roughly 1,200-bed regional facility on North Washington Avenue that houses both pre-trial detainees and short-term inmates. The Scranton Police Department, which operates out of headquarters on South Washington Avenue, handles patrols across the city's downtown commercial corridors, including the Penn and Franklin avenue blocks where Sunday's incident unfolded.
