OKEECHOBEE — After allegedly kicking law enforcement officers during a traffic stop, an Okeechobee woman was charged with battery. On Saturday, Jan. 18, Robin Stoner Fairbanks, 44, Southeast 80th Avenue, was arrested and charged with DUI, two counts battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest without violence. Her bond was set at $12,000.
At approximately 7:30 p.m., Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Deputy Steven Pollock was requested by Cpl. Heath Hughes to respond to his location, the corner of State Road 70 East and Northwest 128th Avenue, to conduct a DUI investigation. When he arrived, Cpl. Hughes advised him he was off duty when he observed a gold Mazda passenger car swerving from one grassy shoulder to the other on Northwest 128th Avenue. As he followed the car, he observed the right and left blinkers activating and deactivating. He initiated a traffic stop close to Cross Roads Restaurant.
When he approached the driver, she reportedly told him she was afraid he was not a real law enforcement officer and requested they drive to the Marathon Gas Station next to the restaurant. Because it was so close and he was out of uniform and in an unmarked car, he agreed. He followed her to the gas station parking lot. As he spoke to her, she reportedly made irrational statements which made him believe she was impaired on some type of drug.
Deputy Pollock notes, when he arrived, he parked his vehicle in an area where the parking lot was smooth and there was a wide yellow line available to use for a field sobriety test.
When Deputy Pollock approached the car, Fairbanks reportedly asked him to call dispatch, and he said he would. She began to roll up her window, but he told her not to roll it up or he would break it. She continued to roll up the window, and then reportedly put her car in reverse. Believing this put the public in danger, Deputy Pollock broke her window and turned her car off, removing her keys. He attempted to remove her from the vehicle, but she gripped the steering wheel and refused to let go. Finally, he, Cpl. Hughes and Deputy Stephen Paladino were able to pry her fingers from the wheel and pull her from the car and to the ground.
She would not allow them to cuff her, though, and they eventually tased her and were able to get her hands in restraints. At that point, she reportedly began kicking them. She was not deterred by warnings of charges of battery on law enforcement, the report notes, so Deputy Pollock gave her what he described as a “distraction blow” in her left side. After this, she seemed to calm down somewhat, he noted.
Due to her aggressive actions, he did not offer a roadside sobriety test. Believing her to be impaired by a drug rather than alcohol, Deputy Pollock asked if she would be willing to provide a urine sample, and she reportedly agreed, but once in the bathroom, she reportedly became aggressive again and a chemical agent was used to regain control over her. After this occurrence, she reportedly refused to give a urine sample.