A Citrus Springs woman was charged with resisting a Marion County sheriff’s deputy who was investigating her for trespassing and possibly driving under the influence of alcohol.
The deputy was dispatched to a home on Northwest 27th Street in Morriston early Thursday morning after a man reported that his ex was on the property stalking him and he wanted her removed. Upon arrival, the deputy saw a blue Toyota partially in the driveway about a quarter-mile from the residence.
While searching the exterior of the home for the woman, the deputy saw the car start and drive away. He initiated a traffic stop and while talking to the driver, 29-year-old Michelle Ashley Ballard, he noticed the smell of alcohol emitting from the vehicle, a sheriff’s office report states.
As he was finishing the paperwork for the trespass warning, the deputy asked one of the property owners to tell Ballard he didn’t want her on the property so he could proceed with his DUI investigation. Ballard said she didn’t want him to speak to her and started to pull away. The deputy told Ballard to stop or she’d be arrested, and she stopped about 30 feet away. She then ended up in handcuffs after resisting the deputy’s efforts to remove her from the car, the report says.
An officer from the Dunnellon Police Department arrived to assist with the DUI investigation. And after performing a field sobriety test, it was determined there was not enough probable cause to charge her with driving under the influence, the report says.
Ballard was charged with resisting an officer without violence and taken to the Marion County Jail, where she was released Friday on $1,000 bond. No court date was scheduled.