On Friday May 7th at approximately 10:30 p.m., a 5'6" woman allegedly assaulted a King County Sheriff's Deputy while he was arresting a black man for refusing to leave the Sportsman's Inn, a Vashon Island restaurant. Jessica DeWire is currently being investigated for third-degree felony assault of a police officer.

According to the statement of probable cause, DeWire confronted the deputy as he was escorting the man to his patrol car. She then allegedly grabbed at his uniform, ripping it. "While attempting to move her from my path," the deputy's statement reads, "she scratched my face with her fingernails causing lacerations, bleeding, bruising and pain while actively resisting my verbal commands to stop resisting... her fingernails were embedded in my cheek and forehead."

However, eyewitness accounts in the Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber put DeWire in a more passive role:

Jared Middlecalf, another witness, said that while DeWire did not take large steps away from the officer, she made no moves toward him and was approached by Silverstein, who took her to the ground when he believed she did not comply with his request to back off.

"I saw Jessica follow the two officers to try to make sure that (the man being arrested) was being taken to the police car without being roughed up," said Middlecalf, who was less than 30 feet from DeWire and Silverstein when the incident took place. "She was told to stay back twice. She did keep distance from the cop. She wasn't threatening in any way. ... After she was told to stay back twice, that's when she was thrown to the ground by Officer Silverstein."

After being taken to the ground, DeWire resisted arrest, Middlecalf said, and began scratching Silverstein's face, drawing blood. She was warned twice that Silverstein would pepper spray her, and when she continued to fight back, Silverstein did so, Middlecalf said.

DeWire was arraigned at the King County Courthouse in Seattle at 2:30 p.m. today after spending the weekend in jail. She was released on her own recognizance; charges against her have not yet been filed.