A St. Tammany Sherriff's Office sergeant encountered an unusual case on the Northshore today.
Authorities say he was driving between Abita Springs and Pearl River, when he "observed a dark blue Nissan Frontier pickup, flipped over in the wood line near the intersection of Louisiana Highway 1088 and Louisiana Highway 36."
What happened next, could not have been what he expected.
"When he stopped to offer assistance and to check on the driver, the sergeant was confronted by a distraught woman wielding a knife and threatening to kill herself. He called for backup."
Sergeant Suzanne Carboni says that more deputies responded to the scene.
"The woman stabbed herself multiple times before the deputies were able to use non-lethal means to subdue her. They removed the knife from her possession and took her into custody. She was transported by emergency medical personnel to a local hospital."
Officials identified the woman 32-year-old Tabitha Mielke of Lacombe.
"Deputies on the scene discovered that she matched the description of a woman wanted for attacking a convenience store clerk in Ponchatoula," Carboni explained. "Ponchatoula Police were contacted and have obtained warrants for Mielke’s arrest. Upon her release from the hospital, Mielke will be booked into the St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center as a fugitive on those warrants," Carboni said.
“I am thankful to our patrol sergeant who observed the crashed truck and stopped, possibly saving this woman from taking her own life or harming another person,” Sheriff Randy Smith said. “I am also pleased that we were able to assist Ponchatoula Police in locating the individual wanted after she violently attacked and injured someone in their jurisdiction.”
