Crime & Safety

Mendota Heights Woman Accused of Assaulting Officers, Paramedics

Otedra Tanecia Denedria Dailey faces three felony counts of assault and one of first-degree criminal damage to property.

A Mendota Heights woman has been charged with assault and criminal damage to property after police say she did extensive damage to a car, then spit at officers and bit a paramedic.

Otedra Tanecia Denedria Dailey, 36, faces three felony counts of fourth-degree assault, each of which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $6,000 fine.

She is also charged with felony first-degree criminal damage to property, which has a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, and a gross misdemeanor charge of obstructing the legal process, which has a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

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Dailey remained in custody Thursday on a $20,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in her case is scheduled Sept. 19 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.

According to the criminal complaint, were called to a home just before 11 a.m. Saturday after someone reported a woman using a metal object to smash a vehicle.

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When they arrived, police spoke to one of the homeowners, who said he was inside when he heard screaming and what sounded like a car being damaged. He pointed at a woman walking away from the home whom he identified as Dailey.

Police detained Dailey and smelled alcohol on her breath, the complaint says. She was confined inside a squad car.

The other homeowner told police that she came outside and found Dailey spitting, screaming and yelling. She said she told her to calm down, but Dailey instead began hitting her car with what was described as a “metal object.”

While police were interviewing the second victim, they heard a “loud banging noise” coming from inside the squad car and found Dailey banging her head against the car’s window bars and the plexiglass partition, the complaint says.

When police tried to adjust Dailey’s seat belt to prevent her from doing further damage, she began to spit, kick and scream at them. She was warned that if she didn’t stop police would use a Taser on her; when her behavior continued, the Taser was used.

Dailey continued spitting, kicking and swinging at paramedics when they arrived, at one point spitting in a paramedic’s eye and biting her, according to the complaint.

The damage to the victims’ car, which included a smashed windshield, a shattered taillight, dents in the hood and a ruined interior head liner, totaled $2,379, according to a local body shop’s estimate.


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