A woman was arrested outside Maverik Gas Station in Cortez after a Jan. 7 incident in which she allegedly tried to attack deputies while a young child was in her car.
Montezuma County deputies responded to the gas station at 10:08 p.m. after employees reported a woman in a white pickup was causing a disturbance. According to an incident report by patrol deputy Bryan Hill, he and Sgt. Ed Oxley tried to contact the woman, but she reportedly commanded two dogs to “kill” the deputies and resisted violently during the arrest. A child who was reportedly in the backseat throughout the incident told law enforcement she had been acting strangely and making death threats against family members all day.
When deputies first contacted the woman, 30-year-old Cortez resident Amanda Baughman, she reportedly had all the doors on her vehicle locked, the volume on her radio turned up and two barking pit bulls inside the vehicle, along with the child in the backseat. According to the report, when Hill tapped on her window to get her attention, she pointed at him and told the dogs to “kill.”
After she responded to repeated requests to step out of the vehicle by swearing and making obscene gestures at the deputies, they parked their two patrol vehicles in the front and back of her vehicle to keep her from leaving the scene. She reportedly consumed an unknown type of pill from her coat pocket and started putting her vehicle in drive and reverse, “attempting to push (the) patrol vehicles out of the way.”
Eventually the deputies told the vehicle’s occupants to cover their eyes, and Oxley used a baton to break one of the windows. Baughman then reportedly opened the driver’s side door to let out one of the dogs, telling it to kill the deputies. Oxley shot at it twice, using a shotgun loaded with beanbag rounds, which chased the dog away from the area. Baughman reportedly got out of the vehicle to tell the dog to attack again, and Hill shot her with a stun gun.
Cortez police officers and medical personnel were called in to help, and they were able to safely remove the child from the vehicle. Baughman reportedly kicked at the officers and deputies while they were trying to move her to the patrol vehicle. Oxley sprayed her with pepper spray once she was in the patrol vehicle, to stop her from harming herself by kicking in the backseat, according to Hill’s report. When she still refused to stay still, on-scene medics gave her medication to calm her down. She was medically cleared at Southwest Memorial Hospital before being transported to the Montezuma County Detention Center, where she was booked on charges of felony menacing, child abuse, second-degree assault and resisting arrest.
The child was treated for small cuts, reportedly caused by broken glass from the vehicle’s windshield, and was picked up by family members after deputies notified a Child Protective Services staff member about the incident. The child reportedly told law enforcement officers that Baughman had made threats against several family members that day.
Baughman is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 31.