A Russian River rescue mission went bizarrely Sunday, as a woman trapped in the river got violent with the very sheriff’s deputies and medical personnel who saved her life.
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat had a Sunday night story about a successful rescue of a woman who had to be pulled from Russian River in Guerneville not long after 4 pm Sunday afternoon. She was seen clinging to a bush while the current was fast and the waters were cold, and two Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies jumped into the waters to save her.
This all happened in the area of Johnson's Beach.
She was eventually saved, as were the two deputies who went in after her. It sounded like a fairly normal, and fortunately successful rescue operation.
But there was a twist that made this operation not at all normal. The Chronicle reports the woman allegedly tried to attack both deputies, and even reportedly tried to drown one of them while they were trying to save her.
A Monday Facebook post from the Sonoma Sheriff notes then even after the woman was rescued by boat and then hospitalized for unspecified injuries, she “continued to assault first responders and medical personnel."
KPIX identified the woman as Lacey Mosher, which was confirmed by the Sonoma Sheriff’s Facebook post.
Per KPIX’s account, deputies received a 911 call that someone was being swept down the river, and discovered Mosher clinging to a bush. Sergeant Gary Lawson removed his gear and jumped in after her, and once he reached her, she reportedly started fighting with him. Deputy Cody McCready joined in the water rescue, and she allegedly fought him too, before they got her in a boat to safety. The two officers were separately rescued from the water afterwards, and one had to be treated for exposure.
"In line with our culture of service over self, Sergeant Lawson and Deputy McCready heroically risked their lives to save someone," Sheriff Eddie Engram in the department’s Facebook post. "They exemplify what it means to be a Sonoma County deputy sheriff."
Charges against Mosher were not announced, but the Sonoma Sheriff’s statement says, "She will be arrested on multiple charges."
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Image: Sonoma Sheriff via Facebook
