A Washougal woman faces an assault allegation after she reportedly slashed a Vancouver police officer in the face with a steak knife Monday night.
Mariah C. Dickison, a 26-year-old transient, appeared in Clark County Superior Court on Tuesday morning. Judge Scott Collier found probable cause to support the referred charge of first-degree assault on an officer.
Police were dispatched to a reported assault at the Royal Plains Apartment, 4517 N.E. Plains Way, shortly before 10 p.m. A witness flagged down arriving officers and pointed in the direction of Dickison, who had a large metal object in her hand, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Superior Court.
Dickison had reportedly pulled a metal sign out of the ground. When officers arrived, she turned and ran, still holding the sign, Vancouver police spokeswoman Kim Kapp said.
The officers chased Dickison about 200 meters and then deployed a Taser to try to stop her, but it had no effect, the affidavit states.
Dickison kept running until she tripped and fell. The officers tried to gain control of her arms, but she was swinging them wildly, and hit Officer Matthew Hoover in the face. He later realized that he had been stabbed on the left side of his face, court records said.
As they attempted to handcuff Dickison, the officers noticed a large steak knife in her left hand. Dickison kept trying to stab them but was restrained after a brief struggle, according to the court document.
Hoover was taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, where he was treated and released with a minor injury, Kapp said.
At Tuesday’s court hearing, Collier appointed Sean Downs to represent Dickison and set her bail at $200,000. She is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 4.
