A Pontiac woman accused of punching an Oakland County Sheriff’s deputy in the face, fracturing his orbital bone, will undergo a psychiatric evaluation as ordered by a judge.
At a pretrial hearing Oct. 3, Oakland County Circuit David Cohen granted defense attorney William Hatchett’s request to have Andrea Ariel-Jones Sheppard evaluated at the state’s Center for Forensic Psychiatry. Sheppard, 34, is charged with assaulting a police officer causing injury for a June 6, 2021 incident in Pontiac.
The alleged victim, Deputy Donald Radde, testified at a preliminary exam earlier this year that Sheppard struck him several times in the face, breaking one of the bones which makes up the eye socket. The injury reportedly kept him off work for eight weeks.
Radde said he was responding to another deputy’s request for back-up after Sheppard was seen acting “unusual,” pacing back and forth in the street “and appeared to be talking to herself or maybe an imaginary person who wasn’t there.” The other deputy called for assistance after trying to speak with Sheppard earlier and being met with “an aggressive response,” Radde said.
He further testified that Sheppard had made motions as if she were firing a handgun at the other deputy’s patrol car and his, and then quickly moved toward his car, coming in contact with the front bumper. As he attempted to get out of his car, Radde said, Sheppard tried to shove his door shut but he was able to push her away. She then “began throwing punches,” Radde said.
The other deputy tasered Sheppard and she was taken into custody, then transported to an area hospital for evaluation. Radde also received medical testing and care that morning, where his facial fracture was diagnosed.
In 2016, Sheppard was charged in Wayne County with carrying a concealed weapon and reckless use of a firearm for allegedly firing a gun into a home she’d bought from the Detroit Land Bank. She was holding her infant daughter and was in the presence of her young son at the time, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. It was reported at the time that she had posted a video of the shooting on social media. At the conclusion of a bench trial before Judge Shannon Walker, Sheppard was found not guilty.
For her current charge, Sheppard faces up to four years in prison if convicted. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 12.
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