FLORIDA TEEN ARRESTED AFTER OFFICER STRUCK

A 16-year-old Port Charlotte girl was arrested Wednesday after she struck a Charlotte County Sheriff’s deputy and two other people with her car in a parking lot. Richelle Liane Sears, 21403 Glendale Ave., has been arrested 11 times with 30 records on file.

An inmate at the Charlotte County Jail reported that the SUV he had been driving was stolen and that someone was coming to pick up the SUV. A corporal witnessed the SUV backing out of the parking lot and signaled its driver to stop.

The driver stopped and got out, and when she did, Sears, who was the passenger in the car, jumped into the driver’s seat and accelerated the SUV directly at the officer in an attempt to escape. The corporal was hit in the right shoulder and leg by the driver’s door. Sears also hit a silver Honda entering the parking lot and then fled.

The two occupants in the Honda were taken to Charlotte Regional Medical Center, as was the corporal, and treated for minor injuries. A Charlotte County detective found the SUV around 2 a.m. Wednesday. As he approached Sears, who had gotten out of the SUV, she ran into him, tackling him to the ground and scratching his face. The detective reported Sears seemed to be on some kind of narcotic stimulant.

Sears has been charged with the following:

• Two counts of leaving the scene of a crash with injuries

• Leaving the scene of a crash with property damage

• Resisting arrest with violence

• Resisting arrest without violence

• Reckless driving causing property damage

• No valid drivers license

Sears also had a warrant out for her arrest for trafficking in cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of drug paraphernalia, giving false information, burglary of an occupied vehicle and grand theft auto.