An Ocala woman was arrested after she was caught driving on a suspended license, fled the scene, and punched and choked a deputy after he tased her and attempted to remove her from her vehicle.
On July 26, a Marion County Sheriff’s deputy was driving near the 3000 Block of NW 63rd Street and observed a car driving with the driver’s side headlight out.
The deputy conducted a traffic stop on the car, which was being driven by 26-year-old Kesharra Thomas.
A computer check of Thomas’s driver’s license revealed her license is suspended since July 6 for failure to pay financial obligations. Thomas is also on active felony probation for aggravated assault.
After instructing Thomas to park her vehicle in a nearby parking lot, the deputy reports that Thomas instead began driving. The deputy activated his emergency lights to conduct a second traffic stop and Thomas failed to pull over, traveling 60-mph in a 45-mph zone, the report states.
Thomas eventually stopped her vehicle at a residence and refused to exit the vehicle. The deputy says Thomas resisted by pulling away, hit his arms, and kicked him in the chest which knocking off his body camera. The deputy said Thomas closed the vehicle door and he waited for backup, the report states.
Thomas eventually unlocked the door when backup arrived and she attempted to kick the deputies’ multiple times. The deputy drew his taser and continued to give verbal commands to exit the vehicle before deploying a taser striking Thomas in the midsection.
Thomas was forcibly pulled out of the vehicle, and she attempted to choke the deputy by grabbing him by the throat with one hand and punched him in the back of the head several times, according to the sheriff’s report.
Thomas was eventually handcuffed.
Thomas was arrested and transported to the Marion County Jail with a bond set at $17,500. She faces more than five charges including resisting an officer and battery.